New Zealand oil spill continues

New Zealand’s worst environmental disaster in decades is still some way from being resolved, after the stricken Rena container ship still continues to threaten to spill some 1,000 tonnes of oil currently contained within her fuel tanks.

The ship has been beached on the Astrolobe reef for over two weeks and is now severely listing to one side. If the ship tilts any further up it may shred more of its load or even fall off the reef and break up completely.

The ship is said to have already spilled around 350 tonnes of oil into the sea off the coast but there are 1,000 tonnes of oil still left in the hull.

A cleanup operation is currently ongoing, with oil being pumped from the ship into a nearby barge. The Svitzer salvage company spoke to radio New Zealand, they stated:

"That ship is very, very sick. She is fractured, she is broken, she is on her knees … There probably will be more oil leaving that vessel if the weather turns nasty,"

Thousands of volunteers have been scouring 37 miles of coastline near the vessel, cleaning up any oil found. However, it is estimated that around 1,300 sea birds have already perished with more likely.