On 5 October 2011 the Greek-owned and Liberian flagged cargo ship m/v RENA hit the Astrolabe Reef, 14 nm off Tauranga Harbour on New Zealand’s North Island. Salvage teams have been working on removing containers from the wrecked ship, which has suffered a hull fracture since only the front half rests on the reef. The aft half seems to keep hanging on by remaining bolts and nuts.

The containers on the stern were the first to be taken off after the fuel tanks had been emptied. Large barges were tied up to the stern of the grounded ship to recover its cargo. When the weather is really good, the team can lift five stacks a time. Their best score is 17 stacks in one day, and their worst just one.

Once a barge has been loaded the team sets sail for home. Recently they have started to use two tugs in tandem, by which it takes about 2,5 hours to the docks in Tauranga. The tidal flow is quite challenging at a rate of up to 4 kts. A pilot is needed for each in and out trip. When just one tug is available, the return trip will take about four hours.

Many containers have been crushed by the disaster and had to be taken out in bits and parts. Refrigerated containers were particularely dangerous as the meat in them had started to decompose, building up pressured methane gas. Many containers virtually exploded when they were taken off the wreck, spilling carcases, meat and other rotting food stuff onto the decks of the barges. Cheese, pies, filled rolls and milk often are found floating past in the diesel. This is considered a “biohazard” and it can be smelled within a three miles' circle around the spot. Some containers that were recovered had maggots dripping out of the doors. Nobody knew how they got in there in the first place.