A total of 90 containers have been removed from the cargo ship Rena stranded on Astrolabe Reef.

The two rear container bays on the deck of the stricken ship are now empty, allowing salvors to start on the bay behind the bridge superstructure.

This bay includes refrigerated containers that now hold spoiled cargo.

Maritime New Zealand says efforts to remove containers are continuing steadily but bad weather forecast for Thursday and Friday could affect operations.

Containers are being loaded onto a barge and taken to the Port of Tauranga for processing by container recovery company Braemar Howells.

An alternative processing area in Harrisons Cut in Papamoa has been approved by the Tauranga City Council for containers that pose an environmental risk and can not be taken to the Port.

On Tuesday salvors removed 19 containers from the ship leaving a total of 1190 containers on board.

A total of 218 transponders have been attached to containers with the highest risk of being lost from the Rena.

The Sea Tow 60 continues to operate at the stern of the Rena where small amounts of fuel oil are being stripped from the starboard tank.

A light sheen of oil continues to sit downwind from Rena but there has been no new oil leaked from the ship.

Work continues with the beach clean-up, including a surf washing process that has been successful in cleaning oil from the sand.

National Oiled Wildlife Response Team advisor Helen McConnell says close to 300 penguins are still under care at the wildlife response centre, along with two pied shags and 60 New Zealand dotterels.

'The remaining birds will be released once they have returned to full health and their habitat is clean. We are ready to respond if anything new occurs.”

The first little blue penguins were released on Mount Maunganui Main Beach yesterday, with a total of 49 penguins from Rabbit Island being cleared to return to their habitat.

The wildlife team will continue to monitor the birds following their release.

MNZ National On Scene Commander Alex van Wijngaarden shared his delight at the release of wildlife and spoke of the continuing clean-up activities.

'We have responded to several reports of oil on beaches and encourage the public to ‘adopt a beach' to further help response efforts.”

Papamoa residents and members of the public are also reminded that surf washing activities involving heavy machinery are ongoing at Papamoa Beach.

People are asked to please keep clear of these areas while this work is continuing. Access restrictions also remain in place for safety reasons while this work is under way. However, it is anticipated that these restrictions will be lifted as soon as possible once this work is complete.