About 500 oil spill workers have been on Bay of Plenty beaches today, removing patches of gluggy spillage from the stranded and breaking Rena.
The heaviest concentration of oil has been on Papamoa beach.
Wildlife is dying and the area's pristine white sand beaches are turning black with oil and are dotted with containers which have been lost overboard.
By early today about 50 tonnes of solid waste and five tonnes of liquid waste had been scooped from beaches, reported Newstalk ZB.
Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) said Shoreline Clean-up Assessment Teams were continuing to conduct assessments from Waihi to Whakatane.
National On Scene Commander Nick Quinn urged people to respect the job his team is doing on the beaches.
"Of course we understand the public curiosity, but safety is our top priority so please let us get on with the job,'' Mr Quinn said.
"We are now restricting beach access, so we'd also ask people to be patient while we deal with what's coming ashore.
"The restrictions are in place to ensure the safety of the public, and to ensure our trained responders and volunteers can get on with cleaning up this oil.''
Access has been restricted from Mount Maunganui to Maketu Point, including the Maketu Estuary.
MNZ has also decided not to use any more of the aerial dispersant Corexit 9500 because it has been shown to be insufficient to justify its application to the spilled oil.
"We have consequently ended the aerial application trials and will continue to assess all response options,'' said MNZ.
Two vessels are preparing for offshore booming, should this be viable.
There are six vessels patrolling in the harbour picking up debris that has come from the Rena.
Oil tanks on the stricken container ship have survived a pounding by heavy seas, salvage experts, as the ship's owners apologised for the large clumps of oil washed up on beaches.
A second ship's officer appeared in court in connection with the running aground of the Liberian-flagged Rena 12 nautical miles off Tauranga on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island.
Large splits have opened up down the middle of the hull of the 236-metre vessel, which has been stuck for eight days on the reef and has lost up to 300 tonnes of heavy, thick, toxic fuel.
A salvage team was winched back on board the 47,230-tonne Rena and after an inspection reported the ship's rear tanks, holding around 1,000 tonnes of fuel, were intact. The ship was carrying 1,700 tonnes of fuel.
"The vessel again seems to have settled on the reef which is a good situation, so it's not getting that working that would be opening those cracks," salvage advisor Bruce Anderson told reporters.
Swells had eased to around one metre from five metres the day before, raising hopes that pumping will resume.
"This is not a simple process. There's been a considerable amount of damage on the vessel and they need to assess that first of all it's safe to operate and secondly that they can be operated," Anderson said.
Three tugs have been steadying the ship to keep it on the reef and stop the aft section breaking away and possibly sinking in water up to 90 metres deep.
The ship's owners, Greece-based Costamare Shipping Inc, said they were deeply sorry for the grounding and oil spill.
"For us, one drop of oil in the water is one drop too much. It is therefore a matter of great regret that a ship associated with us should be the cause of so much anguish," managing director Diamantis Manos said in a video statement.
He said the company was working with authorities to find the cause and liability for the clean up. Property damage would be settled in accordance with international conventions.
The ship's second officer, responsible for navigation at the time the Rena struck the reef, appeared in court today on a charge of "operating a vessel in a manner causing unnecessary danger or risk".
The 37-year-old Philippine national was remanded without plea on bail. The ship's captain appeared on the same charge and was also bailed yesterday. The charge carries a maximum fine of $10,000 or 12 months in prison.
More containers had fallen into heaving seas from the ship, which is listing at about 20 degrees. Eighty-eight of the 1,368 containers have been lost and authorities said one was carrying a hazardous substance which could explode on contact with water.
Police patrolled to stop any looting of containers, but beaches were covered with deerskins, foam insulation, timber and hamburger meat patties.
Tauranga, the country's biggest export port, said it would suspend operations between 8am and 5pm (GMT) to remove debris from inside the harbour and check shipping channels.
Maritime NZ closed around 40km of coast to cope with overwhelming numbers of people wanting to help in the clean-up.
Crews numbering about 500 people, including soldiers, have been gathering clumps of oil, some as large as dinner trays. But hundreds of residents, some angry at the time taken to start a clean up, have joined in, ignoring warnings to stay away.
"This is our place, these are our beaches, it's natural we want to save them, never mind bureaucrats," Jim Kohu told Reuters.
More than 50 tonnes of oil have been recovered from long, golden beaches, a magnet for surfers. However, each high tide is washing more on the beaches, and experts have said that could continue for weeks.
