Rena salvors enter physically gruelling phase | Bay of Plenty News | Local News in Bay of Plenty

Salvors on board Rena have entered a slower, more physically gruelling phase of the salvage process.

Crews on the bow section are spending much of their time hand-loading cargo from damaged containers on to the deck, before it can be heli-lifted off. Svitzer salvage spokesman Matt Watson said salvors were having to work extra hard to get the remaining containers and their cargo off the stranded ship.

"The salvors have spent a lot of time hand-emptying the containers. When they are crushed and damaged they're emptying them by hand. That's an absolutely gruelling job, it's probably one of the most exhausting phases of the operation.

"They are just ... unpacking stuff by hand: milk powder bags, pieces of debris, pieces of timber. I think the milk powder bags are 30kg. It can be like working out at a gym for 12 hours a day," he said.

The salvors are carrying the loose material to open spaces on the deck, where it can be bundled up and airlifted.

The front section of the Rena, where they are working, has been the most stable part of the wreck, but since the stern broke off and sunk, the deterioration in the bow has become more evident.

"There's no doubt the structural integrity is weakening. We don't know if it will topple over, or when," he said.

"They are on a trigger alert to evacuate. It's dangerous up the front bit. If she went over they can't really jump off because she's on the reef ... so that's playing on people's minds a bit more."

The salvage operation continues to focus on clearing all the containers.

Mr Watson said it remains business as usual as the salvors seek the best way to remove them all whether by pushing them into the sea for collection, hand-emptying them or removing them by crane when they can.

In Palmerston North at the Massey University wildlife rehabilitation centre, Brett Gartrell said his staff continued to treat oiled sea birds.

"We expect to get low numbers of oiled birds for the next couple of months. We've had juvenile birds coming in, some adults but mostly young birds. I'm not sure whether they're getting oiled in the water or the off patch still out on the beaches somewhere," he said.

"We've got 17 penguins and one grey-face petrel. We hope to have another eight ready to go back to Tauranga in the next week."