Statement by the Owner of the MV Rena

26 February, 2016 - Daina Shipping Company, the owner of the MV Rena, today wishes to acknowledge the decision by the Commissioners to grant resource consent to leave what remains of the wreck on Astrolabe Reef (Otaiti).

The owner’s representative, Mr Konstantinos Zacharatos, would like to thank all those who took part in the five-week hearing, which provided an important opportunity for everyone to be heard and have their concerns taken into account by the Commissioners.

“Thank you also to those involved in the extensive consultation over the past several years, supporters and opposers, that helped establish a comprehensive solution acceptable to the Commissioners, which has helped towards a safe and responsible resolution to the incident.

“The next steps from here will be to carefully consider the decision and the conditions, in consultation with our New Zealand legal and environmental team, before I return to New Zealand next month,” he says.

“We intend to continue to listen to and work together with Iwi, members of the community and local authorities to discuss the decision, including next steps in concluding the incident.

“Finally, to all the volunteers involved during the initial response and those in the extensive salvage and clean-up operation that has not stopped since the accident in October 2011 – thank you for your remarkable efforts,” Mr Zacharatos concluded.

New Zealand Diving & Salvage is scheduled to complete the final stage of the debris clean-up operation in March, subject to weather and marine conditions. Once completed, the Bay of Plenty Regional Harbourmaster will review the two nautical mile exclusion zone that has been in place since the grounding.

When the exclusion zone is lifted, an Access Plan will be implemented to encourage safe and responsible public access to the Reef. For more information about the Access Plan, please click here.

Images showing the state of the Reef and wreck today (credit Darryl Torckler):

Reef & wreck

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Debris clearance

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Underwater video footage showing the state of the Reef and wreck, shot in February 2016 (credit Steve Hathaway):

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