The next stage of the Rena recovery operation is underway with parts of the bow being cut up and lifted by helicopter from the wreck at Astrolabe Reef.

US company Resolve has been contracted to undertake the next phase of the operation that will see the bow reduced to one metre below the waterline. The project is expected to take until early 2013.

Work is underway to cut up the bow section of the Rena and remove pieces using a helicopter.

Salvors working on board the bow are using oxy-acetylene welding torches to cut through the bow section with pieces being lifted by helicopter and transported to a nearby barge to be taken ashore for processing.

The Rena grounded on the reef about 25km off the coast of Tauranga on October 5 last year.

The bow section of the ship remains above water on the reef while the stern slipped down the reef during a storm in January and is now lying on a slope at a depth of 65 metres of water.

Senior Claims Manager with Rena insurer The Swedish Club, Captain John Owen, says pre-cutting work on the internal structures commenced last week, while a helicopter and crane barge began removing pre-cut scrap metal this week.

'This is a difficult and potentially dangerous location to conduct salvage operations,” says John.

'However, we are confident Resolve will complete the project safely and to the satisfaction of the Bay of Plenty community.”

John says the helicopter will be used extensively in the early stages of the removal as the bow section is surrounded by shallow water, inhibiting the use of a heavy lift barge.

The helicopter will remove steel from the forward section, while a crane barge will work from the deeper water surrounding the aft section.

The shell plating and ballast tanks will be left until the final phase of the project to act as a breakwater.

Once all the major internal structures are removed, the shell plating will be removed to one metre below the mean waterline.

Following this, a dive survey will be completed to ensure that the wreck has been reduced in accordance with Resolve's approved salvage plan.

Resolve, an international marine salvage expert, will work with a number of local and international subcontractors including Soenen BV (specialised cutters), Helicopter Services Bay of Plenty, Braemar Howells, Unimar, McDermott Aviation and MacKay Shipping in the project.

An agreement is also in place for scrap steel recycling at a local Tauranga facility.

Meanwhile the ship's The Swedish Club are continuing to investigate a series of options of what to do with the remaining wreck.