Stricken oil vessel could break apart

Officials are concerned that a stricken container ship grounded off the coast of New Zealand could break apart, causing oil to spill into the sea.

Liberian-flagged Rena has been stuck on a reef off the coast of New Zealand for over two weeks as workers have had to wait for bad weather to calm before pumping of the oil on board could resume.

The vessel is thought to contain 1,200 tonnes of oil, 100 tonnes are thought to have already been pumped off but 350 tonnes have spilled into the sea in what has been referred to as the nation's worst environmental disaster in decades.

Bruce Anderson, the salvage adviser for Maritime NZ, the government agency that supervises shipping, explained to Reuters that the ship has large cracks down both sides and is moving.

"They have sensors on board the vessel now which are saying that it's got about half a degree of rotation and about a degree's lift at the stern," he said.

Pumping off the oil is a slow process which is incredibly complex, "the last thing we want to do is to rush" he told the source.