Skip to main content
ISWAN SeafarerHelp +44 800 012 1004 · free, 24/7, multilingualmore ▾
Skip to content
Seafarer Index
Sign in

MV Rena

2011-10-05 · Astrolabe Reef, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand · Post-Panamax container ship · Liberia flag

Disaster type
grounding
Fatalities
None
Environmental damage
~350 tonnes fuel oil released — the worst maritime environmental disaster in New Zealand history. ~200 containers lost. Extensive Bay of Plenty coast contamination.

Accident narrative

The Liberian-flagged Post-Panamax container ship MV Rena grounded at full speed (17 knots) on the Astrolabe Reef in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand, at 02:14 on 5 October 2011. The bridge team had altered course to shave time off the arrival at Tauranga — a decision route that would have taken her directly over the well-charted reef. Investigation revealed the Second Officer had failed to check the ECDIS shallow-water alarm, which was disabled. Fuel oil began leaking within days; 350 tonnes eventually spilled, contaminating the Bay of Plenty coast + Tauranga's iconic Mount Maunganui beaches. The Master and Second Officer were prosecuted; both received prison sentences under NZ criminal law. The vessel broke in two in January 2012 during a storm; salvage of the remaining cargo + hull continued until 2016.

Crew perspective

Rena is the definitive modern case for ECDIS alarm-disabling as a criminal navigation failure. Every deck officer training programme now emphasises the ECDIS safety-contour alarm review as a bridge-team-briefing item + the criminal exposure of altering course to shorten a passage. Also drove IMO ECDIS training standards revision.

Regulatory response

New Zealand Maritime Transport Amendment Act 2013 established stricter marine-pollution liability regime + navigation-officer certification requirements. Drove IMO revised guidance on hull-integrity inspection intervals.

See also