The owners of the container ship Rena are dismissing independent advice that suggests they are “grossly exaggerating” the time and cost it would take to remove the entire wreck, Radio New Zealand is reporting.
Independent reports by the international marine and engineering consultancy London Offshore Consultants estimate full wreck removal would cost up to $US540 million and would take just over five years. It also suggested putting out the job out to international tender could reduce the expense.
The Government commissioned the report before it announced it would only push for only parts of the wreck in shallower waters to be removed.
A spokesperson for the Rena owners, Hugo Shanahan, said the review offers only one of many expert opinions the judge will weigh up when a decision is made on the application. He suggested the Bay of Plenty Regional Council's report, due in November, would more accurately reflect the situation.
A resource consent application to leave the Rena wreck on the Astrolabe reef is to be heard by the Environment Court.
In 2011, the container ship crashed into the Astrolabe Reef, off Tauranga, spilling tonnes of oil and debris into the sea and creating one of the country's worst maritime and environmental disasters.
The Rena is owned by Greek shipping company Costamare through one of its subsidiaries, Daina Shipping Company.
The remains of the ship serve as “a reminder of how ill-equipped we are to deal with and pay for the clean-up,” wrote Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana in her feature on oil and gas exploration and consumption for The Wireless.
