Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Kiri Gillespie: Response to Rena grounding could have and should have been better

Kiri Gillespie
By Kiri Gillespie
Assistant News Director and Multimedia Journalist·Bay of Plenty Times·
1 Oct, 2021 07:49 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Rotting lamb patties were among the debris that washed up at Mount Maunganui from damaged containers several days after Rena's grounding. Photo / NZME

Rotting lamb patties were among the debris that washed up at Mount Maunganui from damaged containers several days after Rena's grounding. Photo / NZME

OPINION:

I still remember the stench of putrid lamb patties rotting on the beach at Tay St in Mount Maunganui.

The shrieks of eager seagulls with this unexpected buffet rang in my ears as I comprehended exactly what it was I was witnessing.

Stormy weather had dumped even more debris from Rena's stricken hull at Ōtaiti Astrolabe Reef on to our shores. Among the countless silver bags that had contained frozen patties were bits and pieces of a polystyrene-type substance strewn around the place.

This was seven days after the container ship crashed into the reef in the early hours of October 5, 2011.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

That morning, our newsroom received a notification of the grounding but hardly any other information. At first, it was hard to know just how bad, or not, this situation was.

No one had even begun to talk about oil or containers - yet.

A photographer and I headed out in a plane. If ever there was any doubt regarding the severity of what had happened, it was swiftly put to bed.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Through the tiny plane windows, I could see Rena and her cargo perched awkwardly atop Ōtaiti. Oil was already leaching into the ocean, stretching towards the golden shores of Pāpāmoa.

This was bad.

Discover more

New Zealand

Cat curfew? Ban proposed as dead sea birds pile up

08 Sep 05:04 AM
New Zealand

Tauranga wastewater results come back negative

29 Sep 06:52 PM

Three Waters in the Bay: Who's in, who's out, and why that matters

30 Sep 07:00 PM
Rena, pictured just hours after the container ship collided with Ōtaiti, Astrolabe Reef. Photo / NZME
Rena, pictured just hours after the container ship collided with Ōtaiti, Astrolabe Reef. Photo / NZME

As the photographer snapped and I filmed, I remember thinking: "Why isn't anyone trying to capture that before it hits?". I've since learned the oil booms on hand weren't designed for the open ocean and were basically redundant in any efforts to capture the oil.

A fat lot of good they were in Tauranga then – a port city effectively surrounded by the sea.

Maritime New Zealand says it is better prepared should something similar happen again. It's heartening, but I'm slightly saddened.

In my view, there should have been swifter action and communication among authorities in those days that followed.

I returned from that plane trip and called various councils and government agencies for answers but could not get anything definitive. The response was always that another party was responsible.

Meanwhile, the oil crept closer.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Granted, this was the first event of its kind in our waters and in modern times so, sure, there will be initial confusion. But these were golden hours I believe could have been crucial to the overall impact of Rena.

Oil from Rena can be seen in this photo of the ship, taken five days after the grounding. Photo / NZME
Oil from Rena can be seen in this photo of the ship, taken five days after the grounding. Photo / NZME

When black blobs of oil washed ashore a few days later, you could feel the heartbreak from people looking on aghast at their beloved but battered beach. After a while, the heartbreak turned to frustration and people took it upon themselves to clean up the oil.

I don't blame them. At that time, they couldn't see anyone else doing it.

I'm told there was plenty of talk and response already happening among authorities but this was not communicated well to the community. While authorities hashed their plans out in their offices, community members young and old were on the beaches getting the job done.

New Zealand had been caught out and it seemed to me that it was thanks to the thousands of volunteers that our beaches were saved when they were.

It was also fortunate Rena's owner and insurers didn't walk away from salvage efforts when they could have. Personally, I don't agree with them offering money to those who opposed leaving Rena's wreck on the reef, but that ship, unlike Rena, has sailed.

New Zealand's overall Rena response, or lack of, is a lesson I believe we desperately need to learn from.

Maritime New Zealand says it has.

I hope we never have to find out for sure.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

Rugby showdown: Local teams gear up for Baywide semis

09 Jul 06:00 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

Rain train: Weather watches keep rolling in for Bay of Plenty

09 Jul 01:32 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

'I wasn't prepared to wait': Youngest Govt MP on seizing his big opportunity

09 Jul 12:26 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Rugby showdown: Local teams gear up for Baywide semis

Rugby showdown: Local teams gear up for Baywide semis

09 Jul 06:00 AM

Whakarewarewa dominated Te Puna with a 57-10 win in Rotorua.

Rain train: Weather watches keep rolling in for Bay of Plenty

Rain train: Weather watches keep rolling in for Bay of Plenty

09 Jul 01:32 AM
'I wasn't prepared to wait': Youngest Govt MP on seizing his big opportunity

'I wasn't prepared to wait': Youngest Govt MP on seizing his big opportunity

09 Jul 12:26 AM
'Ecstatic' reunion: Cat found after year-long disappearance

'Ecstatic' reunion: Cat found after year-long disappearance

09 Jul 12:00 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP