Salvors are managing to lift one container per day from the bow section of the Rena wreck at Astrolabe Reef.

Maritime New Zealand reports progress is steady as salvors work to remove the more than 250 containers still on board the bow section.

Rena photographed at first light on Thursday. Photo: MNZ/LOC.

'It is labour-intensive work that involves the cutting and grinding of containers and removal of the contents by hand,” says a MNZ spokesperson.

It is estimated there are about 250 containers below deck in the bow section, while 18 remain above.

Of the 18 above, 14 are formerly refrigerated containers and four contain wood.

Salvors are working to remove these before operations to remove damaged containers from below deck commence.

Stevedores working onboard the bow are erecting four tonnes of scaffolding to gain access to these containers.

This work is estimated to take 2-3 weeks, but is dependant on weather conditions and safety.

A MNZ spokesperson says sensors onboard continue to detect movement on the forward section, which is 'heavy and rolling” but currently remains fast on the reef.

Sensors have now also been installed on the submerged stern section.

A helicopter is continuing to lift the contents and pieces of containers from the deck of the bow, with all of the milk powder from containers onboard now removed.

So far 479 containers have been removed from Rena, which was carrying 1368 when it ran aground on October 5. An additional 70 have been recovered from the water.

The environmental specialist company responsible for the recovery and processing of damaged containers, Braemar Howells, is lifting loads of stacked timber from Matakana Island today, and transporting them to a barge waiting offshore to take them to the port.

It has also managed to remove all of the timber from Orokawa Bay found at the northern end of Waihi Beach where a container washed ashore.

The remaining debris on Motiti Island will also be removed in the next three days following a survey of the island.

MNZ reports the Mount Maunganui and Leisure Island areas are almost clean, with a week's worth of work left for response teams before the area is signed off.

The weather is forecast to remain good with winds of up to 20 knots and seas of 1.7m for the next two days.