Pinoy-manned stricken ship in New Zealand splits into two

The Liberian-flagged ship "Rena," manned by an all-Filipino crew before it ran aground in October last year, has split into two on Sunday. Citing maritime authorities, Reuters reported that the ship, wedged on a reef off a popular New Zealand holiday spot, has broken up. The news site Bloomberg, on the other hand, reported that the 236-meter container ship "split into two after stormy weather, spilling cargo and debris into the water." Reuters said the 47,230-tonne Liberian-flagged Rena has been stranded on a reef 22 kilometers off Tauranga, on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island since running aground on Oct. 5. Rena's captain and navigation officer, both Philippine nationals, have been charged with operating a vessel in a dangerous manner, and releasing toxic substances, which carry maximum fines of NZ$300,000 or two years in prison. They are scheduled to reappear in court next month. The vessel is owned by Daina Shipping, a unit of Greece's Costamare Inc. and was under charter to Mediterranean Shipping. Separated into two "There has been a significant change in the status of the Rena overnight, with the ship separated into two pieces that are now 20-30 meters apart," Maritime New Zealand spokesman Ross Henderson said in a statement. "The forward section of the ship is in its original position on the reef, with the stern section broken away and moving significantly, but still on the reef." Henderson said the 236-meter ship was pounded by wild weather overnight, with weather conditions expected to remain poor for the next three to four days. The maritime authorities said there has been a significant discharge of containers and container debris from the ship, which may lead to an extension of the current exclusion zone. On Friday, the authorities said 881 containers were still on board, having removed 389 from the cargo ship while around 98 containers were believed to have been lost overboard. Charges of racism The freight and logistics news site IFW in October last year said a Philippine-based seafarers’ association has branded some New Zealanders as racist for blaming the Rena disaster "on the fact that the vessel’s crew were Filipinos." The Rena is said to have caused New Zealand’s worst environmental crisis. "There were reports that 19 of the 25 Filipino crew on board the Rena had been hurried out of Tauranga amid fears for their safety, as local frustration grew and the ship’s captain and navigational officer, also from the Philippines, were charged over the incident," IFW said. For safety reasons, their names have been witheld by the court. "Following the leakage of hundreds of tonnes of oil that polluted beaches and killed wildlife, the New Zealand Green Party asked whether Filipino workers should be banned from locally registered vessels, due to the standard of their seafarer training," IFW said. However, the International Seafarers’ Action Centre (ISAC) defended the Filipino crew saying the Rena was “a substandard and old vessel,” adding that the ship had been "detained after half its inspections over the last 36 months." - VVP, GMA News