Book description
When the 236-metre long container ship Rena ploughed into and was
impaled upon the Astrolabe Reef off Tauranga at 2. 20am on 5 October
2011, it began one of the biggest salvage operations and environmental
disasters in New Zealand history. The Rena was carrying 1368 containers,
1700 tonnes of heavy fuel oil and 200 tonnes of marine diesel, all of
which threatened to enter the sea. Salvors worked round the clock to
stem the black tide and thousands of New Zealanders volunteered to clean
up beaches and rescue wildlife. In Black Tide John Julian investigates
the real story behind the Rena catastrophe and attempts to answer the
many questions surrounding the disaster. What really happened on that
fateful night and why did the Rena run aground? Who is responsible? What
could be done better and faster? And, importantly, is New Zealand able
to effectively respond to maritime disasters? The Rena's circumstances
are complicated - built in Germany, registered in Liberia, insured in
Sweden and reinsured in England, owned by a Greek company, chartered to
a Swiss group and crewed by Filipinos - and the story of the shipwreck
is no less fraught. Black Tide looks for information amid the flotsam
and jetsam and addresses the most important question of all: what can be
done to stop this happening again? When the 236-metre long container
ship Rena ploughed into and was impaled upon the Astrolabe Reef off
Tauranga at 2. 20am on 5 October 2011, it began one of the biggest
salvage operations and environmental disasters in New Zealand history.
The Rena was carrying 1368 containers, 1700 tonnes of heavy fuel oil and
200 tonnes of marine diesel, all of which threatened to enter the sea.
Salvors worked round the clock to stem the black tide and thousands of
New Zealanders volunteered to clean up beaches and rescue wildlife. In
Black Tide John Julian investigates the real story behind the Rena
catastrophe and attempts to answer the many questions surrounding the
disaster. What really happened on that fateful night and why did the
Rena run aground? Who is responsible? What could be done better and
faster? And, importantly, is New Zealand able to effectively respond to
maritime disasters? The Rena's circumstances are complicated - built in
Germany, registered in Liberia, insured in Sweden and reinsured in
England, owned by a Greek company, chartered to a Swiss group and crewed
by Filipinos - and the story of the shipwreck is no less fraught. Black
Tide looks for information amid the flotsam and jetsam and addresses the
most important question of all: what can be done to stop this happening
again?
