MV Rena

The container ship MV Rena ran aground on the Astrolabe Reef—known in Māori as Otaiti—off the coast of New Zealand's Bay of Plenty in October 2011. The massive vessel struck the reef at speed while navigating an inaccurate route toward the Port of Tauranga. It quickly became one of the nation's worst maritime disasters.

The accident caused a major environmental crisis by releasing hundreds of tons of heavy fuel oil into the pristine marine environment. The grounding also caused the ship to spill hundreds of shipping containers and their cargo into the ocean, contaminating local beaches. The disaster resulted in the death of thousands of seabirds.

At the time of the accident, the vessel was carrying over 1,300 shipping containers filled with various commercial goods. This cargo included dangerous goods, such as chemicals used in mining, as well as large amounts of scrap metal and commercial food products. Salvage teams spent years recovering this debris.

Because heavy seas broke the ship apart, the salvage operation became the largest and most expensive maritime salvage in New Zealand history. Most of the bow section and the visible cargo were eventually removed from the reef. However, some remnants of the hull were legally allowed to remain on the seafloor.