Should it stay or should it go? A three-week resource consent hearing begins tomorrow to decide whether the Rena can stay on the Astrolabe Reef or will have to be removed.
The ship's owners say removal poses too much risk for those working on it and would further damage the environment. But some locals say it's doing damage simply by being left where it is.
When the Rena entered Tauranga Harbour almost four years ago, its stay was meant to be brief.
But 3 News has learned that after years on the sea floor, the stern has now sunk and collapsed into itself and technical experts agree it's now too dangerous for divers to retrieve it.
The ship's fate will finally be decided at a hearing that starts in Tauranga tomorrow.
But many just want it gone, especially after thousands of plastic beads were found strewn across Papamoa Beach just last week. They're believed to have come from a container off the Rena.
The Rena grounded on the Astrolabe Reef in the early hours of October 5, 2011 when the Rena's captain, racing against the clock, took a shortcut and crashed, causing New Zealand's worst environmental maritime disaster. Hundreds of tonnes of oil spilled into the water and 88 containers were lost overboard.
By January 2012 the vessel had split in two. Four months later the captain and navigation officer were sentenced to seven months' jail.
In August sections of the bow started to be removed.
One year after the accident, the Government reached a $27 million settlement with the ship's owner, Daina Shipping.
Since the grounding, the owners claim they've spent close to $470 million on the salvage.
More than 50 businesses claimed damages and settled last year in a confidential multimillion-dollar pay-out.
But now attention turns to what's happening under the water. Video imaging data, samplings and a recent report on the feasibility of recovering copper from the wreck will all be used as evidence over the next three weeks.
Four commissioners appointed by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council will decide whether to give the Rena's owners permission to leave it on the reef.
If that happens, the owners say they'll continue to monitor the cultural and environmental impacts as well as pay a bond to cover any future costs.
3 News
