Rough weather hits Rena and central Auckland

A window has blown out from a high rise building in downtown Auckland. Photo / Greg Bowker

Salvage crews are still unable to get on board the "fragile" cargo ship Rena as rough seas and strong winds batter the stricken vessel.

Weatherwatch.co.nz said winds of 80 to 120km/hr were likely to hit exposed areas in the east and south of both the North and South islands.

Head forecaster Philip Duncan said that was likely to cause difficult conditions at the Rena, which is grounded on Astrolabe Reef off Tauranga, until Saturday.

Conditions were expected to worsen at the vessel tomorrow.

Maritime New Zealand Salvage Unit Manager Arthur Jobard said salvage teams could not safely board the Rena amid choppy seas and strong wind gusts.

They were concerned about how the unpredictable weather was affecting the fragile ship, which has large cracks down its starboard and port sides, he said.

"While there has been no change in the integrity of the vessel, it remains in a fragile condition, and is at the mercy of the weather.

Mr Jobard said north-west winds had increased over the Rena's location, with gusts of around 46km/hr.

Wind gusts of up to 68km/hr were expected during Friday and Saturday.

As of late yesterday, 95 containers of the more than 1200 containers on the Rena had been removed, with another two recovered in pieces.

Earlier, strong wind gusts in Auckland blew out a high rise window and sent it crashing to the ground just centimetres from pedestrians.

Iain Rae was walking past as the glass and aluminium frame blew out.

He said there was a loud crash on a canopy above pedestrians before the window fell from the fifth floor, bouncing off a canopy and onto the road.

Many people were walking in the area and it was lucky none were hurt, he said.
Metservice said a very strong west to southwest flow is expected to spread over the South Island and lower to central North Island later today, and persist through to early Saturday morning.

Westerly gales were likely for Hawkes Bay and Wairarapa from Napier to Eketahuna from this evening, it said.