Rena salvors’ next job: removing containers

   Salvage teams on board the cargo vessel Rena, the containership grounded off the coast of New Zealand, are preparing for the next phase of the salvage operation–removing containers from the vessel.
   Maritime New Zealand slvage unit manager Bruce Anderson said a crane barge from Australia, was on scene and would undertake sea trials. This vessel would be used to remove containers, some of which are precariously perched, once the fuel recovery was complete.
   “Salvage efforts have concentrated on fuel recovery as the first priority of the operation,” Anderson said. “However, behind the scenes, a lot of work is also going into preparing for the second stage, which is removing the containers and, eventually, the wreck.”
   Anderson said a coffer dam under construction to enable access to a submerged starboard tank with fuel was destroyed in heavy weather conditions and that given the amount of time it would take to rebuild it, salvors have decided to remove the remaining oil on the ship using a technique called hot tapping.
   To hot tap the tank, a flange is bolted to the deck of the flooded passageway and a hole is cut into the fuel tank through the flange. Water is then pumped into the fuel tank, raising the oil to the top, so it can be pumped out. While slower, Anderson said this was the best option available to the salvage team.
   Another salvage team is pumping lube and hydraulic oils in the engine room into a centralized tank and onto a tanker.