Rotting food stops Rena divers in NZ

19 Jan 2012, 5:29 pm   -   Source: AAP
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Rotting food is fouling the water in and around the stricken cargo ship off New Zealand and has stopped any diving while it is tested for toxicity.

Rotting food - the stench of which is reported to be putrid - has halted dive efforts into the submerged stern of the broken ship Rena off the New Zealand coast.

Salvors were on Thursday trying to take advantage of clear weather since the ship broke in two and the stern section partially sank, and have resumed removing cargo from the ship, which ran aground off the Tauranga coast more than three months ago.

Containers have been recovered as milk powder, plywood sheets and MDF have been washing up on local beaches, as well as about 50 bags of latex gloves that turned up at Bowentown Heads.

Maritime New Zealand salvage unit manager Kenny Crawford says divers are still assessing the two sections of the vessel.

Despite calm seas, dive conditions remain difficult because of the dark, sea surges and jagged steel.

Mr Crawford says tests are being carried out on the toxicity of water in the aft section.

Rotting food in refrigerated containers that have been without power for more than three months may have poisoned the water in and around the Rena and it is being tested to ensure it is safe to dive in. Test results may be known in a few days.

Mr Crawford said that while small amounts of oil continue to leak from the vessel, remaining pockets of oil are now estimated to be in the tens of tonnes.

On Wednesday a number of dead birds were found, but only one was oiled.

About 50 have been sent to Massey for a post-mortem examination to determine if they died from natural causes.

Just over 400 containers have now been removed from the Rena, which has been stuck on Astrolabe Reef since October 5.

Up to 500 containers are unaccounted for, most of which are thought to be on the ship.

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