After months of being on the verge of breaking up, the container ship the Rena has finally split in two, and the stern has sunk. This draws to an uncertain close another chapter in the Rena saga.
The Rena has left a real mark on our national consciousness. It also left a very real mark on the Bay of Plenty coast. The Bird Recovery Centre estimates that so far up to 20,000 birds have been killed by the Rena’s fuel oil. The death toll amongst other wildlife, like whales, seals and fish, will likely never be known. Fishing and dive tour operators have been hit hard by the accident – the Rena hit one of the Bay’s best diving spots.
Ironically however, the Rena’s legacy could be a positive one. The sight of just a fraction of the Rena’s oil washing ashore on the region’s delicate coast has steeled people from all around the country to prevent anything like this happening again. The best way to do that is to put a stop to the Government’s current obsession with opening New Zealand up to the deep sea oil industry.
The industry’s best known rig, the Deepwater Horizon, won’t be coming to New Zealand. The Horizon, a floating exploratory rig, exploded and sank in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, killing eleven. The accident lead to more than 600,000 tonnes of oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico over the three months it took to fix a blow-out, 1,500 metres below the ocean waves.
But there are other deep sea rigs. The first of those is expected here at the start of next summer, under the auspices of Anadarko, a company which had a large share in the Deepwater Horizon well. If the Government’s plans are allowed to go ahead many more will follow.
Given that there are plans to drill in water up to twice as deep (3100 metres) as that in which the Horizon was working, and given that these operations would take place far from shore (and from the rigs that would be needed to drill a relief well, often the only means of stopping a deep sea leak), the risk to New Zealand from deep sea drilling is unacceptable.
The authorities couldn’t control where the Rena’s oil wound up – they wouldn’t have a hope of preventing a deep sea oil disaster, if a leak occurred.
Help make sure the lessons learnt from the Rena don’t go to waste. Sign our petition, and download a stop deep sea oil action pack, and join Greenpeace, if you haven’t already. Together we can stop deep sea oil exploration in New Zealand.