MV Rena owners to face charges Thursday
Athens, Greece based Daina Shipping, which owns the sunken containership MV Rena, is due to appear in court on Thursday to face charges relating to the discharge of harmful substances from the vessel, Ship & Bunker reports.
Maritime New Zealand (MNA) said that as registered owners, Daina Shipping, a subsidiary of fellow Greek shipping company Costamare Inc, has overall responsibility for the ship's operation.
The company's planned appearance in court last month was adjourned by mutual agreement "due to the complex nature of the case," an MNZ spokesman told NZ Newswire at the time.
According to New Zealand's Resource Management Act, discharge of harmful substances from a ship carries a maximum fine of $600,000 and $10,000 for every day the offending continues.
On May 25, 2012 the Rena's captain Mauro Balomaga and second officer Leonil Relon were both jailed for seven months for their part in the incident after pleading guilty in February to a range of charges including attempting to pervert the course of justice by altering navigation records after the accident.
They also admitted operating a ship in a dangerous manner and discharging harmful substances from the cargo vessel.
The MV Rena sank after running aground on the Astrolabe Reef near the port of Tauranga, New Zealand on October 5, 2011 spilling over 300 tonnes of fuel into the water.
The country's Environment minister, Nick Smith called it their "most significant maritime environmental disaster."
The ship was reported to have been carrying 1,368 containers, of which eight contained hazardous materials, and 1,700 tonnes of heavy fuel oil and 200 tonnes of marine diesel fuel.
