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Subscribe to RSSThe owners of the stranded and sinking cargo ship Rena are being charged for damage in New Zealand's worst maritime environmental disaster. Msnbc.com's Dara Brown reports.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- The owners of a stricken container ship wrecked on a reef off a popular New Zealand holiday spot have been charged with causing the country's worst environmental disaster in decades, maritime officials said on Thursday.
Daina Shipping, a unit of Greece's Costamare Inc., has been charged with discharging harmful substances after its 47,230-ton Liberian-flagged ship Rena struck a reef about 12 miles off Tauranga, New Zealand's biggest export port, in early October.
The charge carries a maximum fine of $488,000. The owners face an additional daily fine of $8,130.
PhotoBlog: Stern of stricken container ship sinks off New Zealand
The ship's captain and second officer have already pleaded guilty to operating the ship in a dangerous manner, releasing toxic substances and to altering the ship's documents.
The two Filipino men face sentences of up to seven years in jail. They will be sentenced in late May.
Marine officials said high winds and seas have battered the wreck, causing more containers to fall into the sea and spreading oil still leaking from the ship.
Maritime New Zealand via Reuters
The bow section of the stricken container ship Rena remains above water about 14 nautical miles from Tauranga on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island, in this April 4 handout picture. The remains of the ship are stuck on a rock reef six months after it ran aground, in what authorities say is one of the nation's worst environmental disasters.
The ship spilt around 3301 tons of thick, toxic fuel oil when it hit the reef, killing thousands of sea birds and polluting beaches up to 60 miles from the reef.
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You can fine as much as you can but I will bet that the ship is a separate corporation whose only asset is a wreck at the sea bottom. Large fines make for a good story but there is no story to be told when they are never collected and this one never will be.
Tis very good to deal with environmental issue so as secure the next generation, hope that will help to protect and conserve the environments
$488,000 in fines, what a joke. The owners made that amount of money the first 10min that ship was in the water. I say, charge the owners 488 million dollars per month instead until they clean up their mess. 6 months since the wreck and they have done nothing to clean this up. Ridiculous. Maybe after some penalties with some teeth in them, then the owners would hire and pay for competent ship personnel that can operate a ship without running it aground. With today's technology, there really is NO excuse for any captain to run a ship aground.
so right michael bring on the big bucks and the owner/operator will be hopefully more reponsible if not increase fines to the millions plus
Hang-em-high!! It's about time that someone makes these arrogant big companies pay damages! Keep their ships moored until ALL fines have been paid!!! Arrogance gets weak when you hold someone by the ball$!!
greek ships have always been the worst kept...
the captains used to get cash, and what they did not spend, they got to keep, so they never repaired anything.
they would never think to get a radar repaired even if it wouldn't turn on.
greek ships were usually rust buckets, and an accident waiting to happen. they never cared about safety of the crew or the environment.
in the 10 years i was servicing electronic equipment in ships, etc, only one greek captain didn't care how much it cost to fix his equipment, he wanted it fixed no matter what.
but nowadays, most countries, including the US have transferred their registry / flag to countreis of conveniece because its cheaper to operate, and they can pay lower salaries than the normal scale for american and european crews, and have either european or indian officers and filipinos for the crew because they are the cheapest.
they will try to operate a ship on as few crew as possible, just imagine only a total of 11 people to operate a 900 foot ship.
Greece shipping company. Good luck in collecting any money with their economy the way it is.
Yea, because this boat did it. BP? EXXON? Maybe int this localized area, this is harsh. But does anyone wonder why the sharks are coming in to feed on people? As a novice biologist, I would guess, looking for a food source, when a reliable one can't be found. Like fish.
Shoot these bastards that pollute our land and seas !!! Oil companies CEO should have all their assets removed as they are the biggest polluters of all !!!
Enough is enough !!! Arrest anyone that pollute, profit from industrial fishing, and on and on ! We have had enough of the greed !
We, responsable humans have our word to say, too !! Punish by taking assets from anyone that pollute and ripe our seas !
At least New Zealand isn't a fascist (nation controlled by corporations) society like the US is.
We should have done the same thing to BP, the company that ruined the Gulf of Mexico and all those coastlands and the many millions of acres of fisheries. And the pollution STILL remains.
You really read my mind! We must have the first or second most corrupt government in the so called "civilized world".
Lee2-3538213 you seem happy to mention the Gulf disaster, have you forgotten what Union Carbide did in Bhopal India?
Don't these yobs know how to read a nav chart?