Photo : Maritime New Zealand

Bad weather is adding to an already bad situation as salvage and clean up crews struggle to staunch the flow of oil from the container ship, MV Rena, which has been grounded on Astrolabe Reef in New Zealand’s Bay of Plenty near Tauranga for the last week.  Reports say that one of the main bunker tanks has been breached, dramatically increasing the volume of oil spilled.  An estimated 130 – 350 tonnes of oil have leaked as of Tuesday morning, making this the the largest maritime oil spill in New Zealand’s history .  30 containers are also reported to have fallen off the ship.