AS the race begins to pump oil off the
container vessel Rena which has been stuck for
nearly two weeks on a reef 22kms off the
coast of New Zealand’s Tauranga, MSC Cruises
has moved to distance itself from the incident.
Being touted as the worst environmental
disaster NZ has seen in decades, the ship has
already spilled around 350 tonnes of heavy fuel
(out of its total 1,100 tonnes) onto the reef.
According to the MSC Group, although the
company was chartering the vessel to carry
containers between South East Asia and
Australia/New Zealand, it is neither the owner
of the vessel nor responsible for its
management or the crew on board.
“MSC is following events in NZ very closely
and shares the concern of the local community
in the affected region” said Captain Michele
Bordiga, Chairman, MSC Australia and NZ.
