Two containers lost since the storm on October 12 from the wreck of the container ship Rena on Astrolabe Reef have been found.

These are two of the 88 containers to fall into the sea that night and were found yesterday as pieces; aboard the vessel and mixed with other container wreckage on Motiti Island.

The Rena prior to the start of the salvors' container lift operation and how it appears today. Photo: Maritime New Zealand.

The recovery of the wreckage of these two containers brings the number unaccounted for to 54.

Today's container recovery operations by salvor Braemar Howells continues to be hindered by bad weather.

The container collecting barge Sea Tow 60 remains in port.

Maritime New Zealand salvage unit manager Arthur Jobard says salvors are continuing to monitor the status of the Rena from the support vessel Go Canopus.

For safety reasons, no-one is currently onboard the Rena.

Sensors onboard the Rena continue to provide information about its condition.

'The salvage team is keeping a very close eye on the Rena in light of today's rough weather conditions.

'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.

'A dive survey yesterday showed no change to the structure of Rena, but our main area of concern is the unpredictable weather and how this may affect the ship.”

Northwest winds increased over the Rena's location today, with gusts of around 25 knots (46km/h), shifting from north-west to south-west.

Wind gusts of up to 37 knots (68km/h) are expected tomorrow and Saturday.

By Wednesday evening 95 containers are removed from the ship.

Small amounts of fuel oil were also stripped from the starboard five tank on Wednesday.

MNZ national on scene commander Alex van Wijngaarden says beach cleaning operations are continuing.

This includes ongoing warm water washing at Mount Maunganui with cleaning and salt water flushing at Leisure Island (Moturiki).

The team are also surf washing and grooming along Papamoa Beach.

Teams are also surveying the beach from Mount Maunganui to Papamoa east, following reports of wind uncovering old oil in a number of areas.

Ongoing beach grooming above the high tide mark will continue, with the entire beach rechecked on an ongoing basis.

'It's great that people are still out there reporting this to us, which means we can get out there and respond,” says Alex.

'We encourage people to keep reporting any sightings of oil like this to us.

'In the meantime, our larger team of oil spill responders remain alert and ready to respond should more oil be released from the Rena during the current unpredictable weather conditions.”