Rena aground: Leave it to Hollywood

The headlines say it all: “Our worst disaster” is the unanimous voice of the newspapers – without qualification and without explanation (though attributed to Environment Minister Nick Smith).

The grounding of the Rena is nothing of the sort, not even qualified, as most reports are, that it is the "worst maritime environmental disaster" (his actual words).

The facts remain:
• Some 70 containers have fallen off a stricken freighter and up to 300 tonnes of fuel oil (less than 20% of the total) has gone into the sea. Globules of smelly, semi-solid goo have washed up on beaches in stormy seas, upsetting local residents.

• Several dozen seabirds have died or been treated and cleaned in an expensive wildlife rescue operation.

• No one has died but the ship’s captain has been arrested and charged (remember the Wahine running ashore in Wellington Harbour: total loss of life 51. And don’t forget real recent non-marine disasters: 26 killed in Pike River coal mine explosion and 181 in Christchurch’s February 22 earthquake.)

• The worst fuel spillage by a ship in New Zealand waters was the sinking of the Korean trawler Don Wong 529 off Stewart Island in 1998. It spilled 400 tonnes of light automotive gas fuel into the sea.

Maritime New Zealand, the government agency charged with handling the Rena’s grounding, is getting plenty stick for lack of speed in the way it’s handling an exceptional accident that should never have happened.

Yet its planning for such an event is well documented and it is probably going as much to plan as possible, with only the weather adding complications.

Media coverage of such events invariably exaggerates and overdramatises, assisted by inadequate knowledge and background – though that is available if it is sought.

Emotional “how do you feel” dominates the angles and public response is mainly informed by ignorance. The media are driven by agendas ranging from political objectives (such as casting the government in poor light) to eco-alarmism.

The normal reaction to such events is to deal with it as expeditiously as possible and punish those responsible. The costs, too, will no doubt be recovered as much as possible from the ship owner’s insurance company.

A side-effect of creating panic usually results in the taxpayer being asked to pay out far more than should be the case – as with Pike River and even the earthquakes.

In the wash-up, the Rena will prove insignificant in global terms and attempts to turn it into a Hollywood-sized disaster are misguided.

Even the last major oil spillage that captured world attention, caused by a fire on a deepsea oil drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, fell well short of the so-called ecological catastrophe predicted at the time (see associated story).