The shipwreck of the MV Rena remains the worst maritime disaster in New Zealand’s history.
The MV Rena was traveling at 17 knots when it ran aground on the Astrolabe reef off the coast of New Zealand on October 5, 2011, while performing the voyage from the port of Napier to that of Tauranga.
The ship was loaded with 1,300 cargo containers while its tanks held 1,733 tons of fuel. This incident is the worst maritime disaster to have ever occurred in the country, and it took many years to clean the area.
Investigators ultimately determined that it was the fault of the captain and the crew for not following the proper voyage plan, navigation practices and watchkeeping, as well as the inadequate supervision of the ship manager over the ship’s safety management system, as the cause of the shipwreck. Approximately 200 tons of heavy fuel oil spilled into the sea, and a significant number of cargo containers were also lost.
See the photos in the article’s photo gallery.
