Rena splits apart, locals brace for wreckage

The doomed container ship Rena has finally split apart after being whacked by six metre storm swells, and Bay of Plenty locals are bracing for a boatload of wreckage to hit their beaches.

The Rena ran aground on Astrolabe Reef off New Zealand’s East Coast three months ago, after another near miss exclusively reported by InvestigateDaily at the time.

Maritime New Zealand believes some 300 shipping containers are now in the ocean, most of which are likely to have already sunk.

Dissolving milk powder in some of the containers has created a ghostly white cloud in the sea. The government calls the latest development “serious, but not unexpected”.