A Greek shipping company has agreed to pay the New Zealand government up to US$31.5 million toward the cleanup costs of a cargo ship’s grounding on a reef near popular swimming and surfing beaches last year. But taxpayers will still be footing some of the bill.
The vessel Rena ran onto the Astrolabe reef near Tauranga on a calm night last October. It spilled hundreds of tons of oil and killed thousands of sea birds in what authorities say was New Zealand’s worst maritime environmental disaster.
Daina Shipping, a subsidiary of Greek-based Costamare, along with its insurers agreed on Tuesday to settle with New Zealand for US$22.9 million for oil cleanup costs incurred so far and another US$8.6 million if it doesn’t remove the pieces of the wreck that still sit on the reef.
The company has also spent an estimated US$80 million on a separate salvage operation – removing oil, hundreds of shipping containers and some parts of the ship’s frame.
The New Zealand government says the disaster has cost it US$38.9 million, meaning Tuesday’s settlement will leave it out of pocket at least US$7.4 million, but that maritime laws limit Costamare’s financial liability.
