Salvors onboard the Rena have stopped work on the wreck and returned to port as bad weather approaches.

The crane barge Smit Borneo, which also houses salvors working on the wreck, returned to port last night after a cable connecting the vessel with the forward section of the Rena broke.

The Smit Borneo returns from Astrolabe Reef to Port of Tauranga.

Svitzer salvage spokesperson Matt Watson says one of the leads on the Smit Borneo snapped on Wednesday afternoon.

'The weather is forecast to get worse, so they decided to bring the Smit Borneo into port, get the lead repaired and do some general maintenance to get her in ship-shape for when the weather gets better.”

The MetService has issued a severe weather watch for the Bay of Plenty on Saturday with gale force winds expected to hit most of the North Island.

The Go Canopus remains out at Astrolabe Reef, where the Rena grounded on October 5, keeping a close eye on the bow of Rena, which remains above water.

Matt says the bow is still in a similar position to when the ship broke up during a storm on January 8.

'There are on-going concerns, no more now than what there was two months ago, there is always the looming risk that she will move and the whole scenario will change.”

So far 564 containers have been lifted off the Rena and Matt says progress has been better than expected.

'Given the state of the Rena and her general position the progress was a little better than expected in terms of extracting containers and debris.

'They also managed to get some residual oil out of the bottom. It is a case of taking things hour by hour, day by day.”

Matt says salvors are now removing a lot of contents by hand, which is a slow and 'putrid” task.

'It's very, very grubby work.”