oil spill in tauranga, new zealand

[KhanadaRhodes]

since there's no thread about this, i thought there should be.

on october 5, the mv rena hit a reef outside tauranga, new zealand.

- the shipping company responsible for this claims under nz maritime law, they're not legally obligated to pay anything
- owner of boat is only liable for $12.1 million
- captain of the boat has been charged with operating a vessel causing unnecessary danger or risk to a person or property. the second officer, who was responsible for navigating when this happened, has also been charged.

it's been said it's nz's worst environmental disaster ever.

for further reading, these are good starting points:
Rena expected to spill more oil, lose containers | Stuff.co.nz
Timeline: The Rena disaster response | Stuff.co.nz

 

[cobl04]

I was horrified by this pic

Fucking scary

 

[kramwest1]

I've been following this, too.

Ugh. The whole Bay Of Plenty is so beautiful, I hate to think of anything happening to it.

 

[Vincent Vega]

I always read about the charges against the captain and second officer, but so far I haven't really read what caused them to hit the reef. Apparently it wasn't drunkenness, otherwise you'd have heard about that. "Causing unnecessary danger or risk to a person or property", to my ears, sounds pretty vague a charge, in that it doesn't clarifies how it came to that in the first place. Is there really no knowledge about what happened onboard leading to the events?

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

I always read about the charges against the captain and second officer, but so far I haven't really read what caused them to hit the reef. Apparently it wasn't drunkenness, otherwise you'd have heard about that. "Causing unnecessary danger or risk to a person or property", to my ears, sounds pretty vague a charge, in that it doesn't clarifies how it came to that in the first place. Is there really no knowledge about what happened onboard leading to the events?

yeah, they haven't announced a cause yet. an investigation has been launched, but who knows when that will be done.

 

[the iron horse]

Penguins Get Sweaters To Protect Them From New Zealand Oil Spill (VIDEO)

 

[Axver]

Maybe everything will be better now that WE'VE WON THE WORLD CUP!!!!

Too much to hope for?

 

[kramwest1]

Maybe everything will be better now that WE'VE WON THE WORLD CUP!!!!

Too much to hope for?

Didn't that end Apartheid in Africa? The trailers for Clint Eastwood's Invictus made it look like it did.

So sure, it could.

 

[Axver]

Having that World Cup stolen from us in 1995 during extra time broke my eight year old heart.

Last night made up for it though!

But in all seriousness re: the ongoing Rena saga, can New Zealand possibly get a break? The last twelve months have just been ridiculous. I think the nation's psyche needed something good to happen like the World Cup win!