Noel Wylie compares the oil recovery response of the Costa Concordia to that of the Rena and defends MNZ's response.
The Costa Concordia listed over onto her side when she sank and, at the time of writing, divers were still searching for bodies from the submerged accommodation.
The Rena ran aground and assumed a modest list to port, and enjoyed perfect weather during the first five days and basically did nothing. (Although it is rumoured the crew had prepared to discharge the oil on the second day).
All her crew was on board, power supplies running, oil transfer pumps working, oil still warm, but was unable to discharge her fuel oil bunkers because there was not any vessel available to receive the oil.
While this opportunity presented itself, the only vessel suitable to take the oil was in Auckland and the Salvors were obliged to haggle with Ports of Auckland for her hire. The Director of Maritime NZ, (MNZ), Catherine Taylor had the power to requisition the Awanuia and send her directly to Tauranga, discharge her cargo and make ready to receive the oil, indeed it was her duty to speed this process up by doing so.
The Director's excuses went from contractual obligations of the Awanuia, then had to discharge her cargo in Marsden Point (while we have a tanker wharf here in Tauranga) and finally that it would be too hard to discharge the fuel directly from the Rena. However, it is a simple matter to change a few flanges around and use the transfer pumps to discharge directly to hoses or possibly back through the bunker loading line to deck, particularly when you have a ship repair facility close by.
The window of opportunity was missed when Catherine Taylor and her five deputies did not fully comprehend the situation and the need for urgency, hardly surprising when one considers that they do have not have any commercial marine qualifications or experience between them.
It is bizarre that Maritime NZ have so few nautical people in their ranks and none in senior management, despite 20 managers, 14 analysts and 38 advisors (including a spiritual advisor) in their huge staff of over 160.
Indeed MNZ was criticised by an official audit in February last year for not having enough marine qualified personnel and this void was so evident during those first days of the Rena disaster.
There will undoubtedly be further ship wrecks around NZ, it is therefore essential that we have an inquiry so that we may learn as much as possible from the Rena disaster response, so that we are better prepared to deal with such events in the future.

Captain Heath Smart, Tauranga.