Rena owner fined in New Zealand court

   Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) said Daina Shipping Co., the owner of the containership Rena which went aground off the coast of Tauranga last October, pleaded guilty on a charge related to discharge of harmful substances and was fined $300,000 New Zealand dollars ($246,798) on Friday in Tauranga District Court.
   Daina is a subsidiary of the Greek containership leasing company Costamare.
   “The guilty plea by the owners has led to this case being resolved in a timely fashion and that is to be welcomed,” MNZ Director Keith Manch said. “The completion of this prosecution marks another step in the response to the grounding of the Rena. There remains a lot of work to be done in the recovery process and MNZ continues to oversee the wreck removal process.”
   The government said Rena was carrying a variety of materials defined under the 1998 Resource Management (Marine Pollution) Regulations as harmful substances or contaminants. The ship carried heavy fuel oil and other oils, and 32 containers of dangerous goods, including 40 tons of hydrogen peroxide, 23 tons of alkylsulphonic acid, 500 tons of ferro-silicon, 5.4 tons of trichloroisocyanuric acid, and 24 tons of potassium nitrate.
   In May, the master and second officer of Rena received sentences of seven months in prison following prosecutions as a result of the grounding. They have since been deported.
   Resolve Fire and Salvage continues to work on the removal of the Rena, while Braemar Howells/Unimar continue to collect debris from the seabed and beaches in the area.
   Earlier this week, Costamare reported it had a profit of $61.5 million in the third quarter ending Sept. 30, compared to $58.2 million in the same 2011 period. Voyage revenue for the company, whose shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange, was $280 million in the third quarter 2012, compared to $291 million in the third quarter a year earlier. – Chris Dupin