RIASSUNTO
Abstract
On the 5th of October 2011 the 47,000 tonne container ship MV Rena ran aground on Astrolabe reef approximately 17km west of the Port of Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. The vessel spilt 360 tonnes of Heavy Fuel Oil from a potential 1,700 tonnes and was New Zealand's first major maritime environmental incident. Oil Spill Response Limited (OSRL) was mobilised by Maritime New Zealand to provide technical support during the initial spill response and dispersant operations. Subsequently this role expanded to include shoreline operations, aerial support, incident command support and shoreline protection.
This case study aims to illustrate the role that Tier 3 organisations had in supplementing the in-country resources and helping the national agencies manage their first major oil spill and in particular will discuss OSRL's integration into Maritime New Zealand's Incident Command Structure.
The case study will address the unique circumstances and operational complications of this specific spill together with the subsequent learning outcomes these challenges produced. These include the integration and the inclusion of the local Maori population, at all command levels of the response, and previously untested wildlife response methods. Further challenges include the use of a variety of innovative beach cleaning techniques and available response options when working with a large local volunteer work force.