Since MV Rena crashed into Astrolabe Reef on the early morning of Oct. 5 off Tauranga in New Zealand, authorities have organized continuing efforts to clean up the resulting oil spill and pump out the remaining 358 tonnes of oil from the cargo vessel to a barge to reduce risk and avoid further marine life damages.

Time and again, these efforts have been rudely interrupted by water swells due to ill weather. After the latest bout of bad weather last week, a salvage team is back on board again, this time hoping to finish off the pumping of oil from Rena to the Awanuia barge.

The salvage teams are making good progress, says the Maritime NZ.

The salvors are applying "hot tapping technique," meaning they have been pumping sea water into the tank to raise the oil to the top, so it can be pumped it to the barge.

Fears of the vessel splitting in half have subsided again as the weather got better. There has been no additional vessel damage reported except for the crack previously found on the ship, and salvors have managed to continue to avoid worsening the vessel condition.

The New Zealand Herald reported that since the government has called for volunteers on October 12, over 4000 volunteers have participated in the official beach clean-ups, putting in over 12,000 hours.

"It's a fantastic effort that shows the sense of affinity that people feel with the beaches," coordinator Bruce Fraser told the Herald.

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