Greeny News

Rescuers are working around the clock to pump oil from ships off the coast affected northern New Zealand

Rescuers were pumping oil from a container ship struck off the coast of New Zealand before the arrival of bad weather that could split the boat in the oil and throw two more on the beaches.

The flag of Liberia Rena has stagnated for 12 days on a reef 14 miles (22 km) of Tauranga, on the east coast of northern New Zealand, after paying about 350 tons of toxic fuel and some of its hundreds of containers at sea

rescue teams

adding additional pumps on Monday to speed up the recovery of oil, which is as thick as peanut butter, the 236m (775FT) container through holes in the side of a barge .

More than 70 tons

were recovered, but there are fears that bad weather will stop the operation and eventually sent to the rear, which contains more than 1,000 tons of oil, falling 60 feet of of water.

"If the ship goes down the barrier that can pierce a tank," said Bruce Anderson, a spokesman for New Zealand sea, which is responsible for overseeing the maritime industry.

The agency said a crew of three members of the rescue team to stay on board overnight to continue the efforts of pumping.

conditions around the ship were good, but the winds and waves more than four meters is planned.

Rescue

The company said the ship was poor and oil spills, but not in the tanks seemed inevitable.

"This boat is very, very sick. It is cracked, broken, she is on her knees ... There will probably be more oil, leaving the ship, if the weather turns bad, "Matt Watson salvage company Svitzer told Radio New Zealand.

"Our team takes time to remove the oil safely to minimize the risk to the environment," he said.

"We also work in the context of planning and logistics at the disposal of the packaging. Our priority remains the removal of oil Rena. "

In addition, the company that chartered the ship 47,320 tons were met with government and pledged to contribute to the cost of cleaning, although they played no responsibility.

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