Salvage teams will continue to pump oil off the stricken ship Rena overnight if the weather remains favourable.
The key focus for salvors today was on establishing a continuous flow of oil off the vessel, which Maritime New Zealand salvage unit head Bruce Anderson said they had achieved.
"Their focus now is on getting that flow happening more quickly. They have a range of options they will be testing to speed up the process they will be working through these over the next 24 to 48 hours.
"The oil is very difficult to work with and is flowing very slowly at present. However, the team will be doing everything they can to get it moving faster,'' he said in a statement.
A total of 171 tonnes had been pumped out of the port No.5 tank, which originally held 772 tonnes, by this afternoon.
Mr Anderson said the team would continue pumping overnight if weather allowed.
"We have fine weather forecast until Wednesday so we are taking advantage of the good weather while we can.''
