CAPTAIN Mauro Balomanga appeared in a Tauranga city court after his ship, the 3,300-TEU Rena ran aground on a reef 22 kilometres off New Zealand's north island, but was soon released on bail having being charged with "operating a vessel in a manner causing unnecessary danger or risk".
That charge alone, with others pending, calls for a maximum fine of NZ$10,000 (US$7,800) fine or 12 months in jail for the accident which has resulted in fuel flowing from the ship with dead fish and birds washing ashore covered with the oil.
The court, under heavy police guard, ordered the media not to publish pictures or show the Filipino captain's face after his lawyer expressed fears that "the public may take matters into their own hands" with anger running high, reported Agence France-Presse
After the hull sprung another leak, efforts have been made to move the bunker fuel within the Rena to its keel area, said Maritime New Zealand salvage manager Bruce Anderson said, whose state agency is supervising the response.
Lloyd's List Intelligence's casualty reported that oil continued to leak into the sea despite contrary reports that its fuel tanks were intact.
Oil was pouring from a new puncture five times the rate it had in the first six days after the grounding so more bunker is likely to wash up ashore around Mount Maunganui in coming weeks, said officials.
Prime Minister John Key said there was a "real possibility" that the ship, engaged in Geneva's Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) trans-Tasman trade between Australian and New Zealand, would never leave the Astrolabe Reef, saying that it may be impossible to refloat the 47,230 dwt vessel.
Environment Minister Nick Smith said they were using the solvent Corexit as a dispersant for breaking up oil slicks, saying it was no more toxicthan dishwashing liquid, and had been approved by the Environmental Protection Agency
"This is a matter of the lesser of two evils," he said, after at least 1,800 litres of dispersant had been used with variable results.
The Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned 21-year-old ship has a 12 degree port side list and is precariously embedded bow first on a reef off the north island Port of Tauranga. Maritime New Zealand said the ship has suffered serious damage to its hull with two its seven holds flooded.
A spokesman for the shipowners, Athens-based Costamare, told NZ Newswire that Captain Balomanga had commanded four of the company's ships. "His performance since joining the company in January 2007 always has been appraised with high scores and was incident-ree," he said.
Overnight, containers began plunging off the stricken vessel in heavy seas, reported AFP. Up to 70 containers, of the 1,368 aboard, have reportedly fallen overboard, some having washed up on Motiti Island. Some containers carry hazardous goods, but Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) said all of those had remained aboard.
MNZ issued a navigational warning to ships in the Bay of Plenty after a heavy swell and strong winds battered the stricken ship and officials say other containers are still moving a lot and will "probably" also fall off the ship if the weather doesn't improve.