Salvage workers onboard the stricken cargo ship Rena have had a tough night pumping thick, gooey oil through a 150m hose.
Maritime New Zealand salvage unit head Bruce Anderson said 21 tonnes of oil had been pumped from the vessel since operations got under way at about 6.30pm yesterday and continued through the night.
"Considering that the oil is the consistency of Marmite and has to be pushed through 150m of hose, this represents an excellent effort.
"This is a hugely challenging and risky operation even in full daylight. These are incredibly brave and dedicated people who are working very hard to protect the beaches and coastline of the Bay of Plenty and the communities who use them,'' Mr Anderson said.
"Every bit of oil that is removed from the damaged vessel reduces the risk of further oil spilling into the environment.''
Teams will continue pumping oil from the ship through the day, as long as the forecast bad weather does not hamper efforts.
National on scene commander Nick Quinn said clean-up crews would continue to look for oil along the coastline today.
"We will be focusing on scientific monitoring and surveillance of further patches of oil that come ashore, and will continue to send teams out to pick up oil as needed.
"We will be continuing to assess the state of local beaches and, if it is safe do so, with no threat to public health, we may look to re-open some beaches over the coming days. In the meantime, we ask people to please keep off any closed beaches and to continue to report any sign of fresh oil or affected wildlife to us.''
Mt Maunganui's most popular beach was declared open yesterday.
Around 460 volunteers helped with beach clean ups at Mount Maunganui, Papamoa, and Maketu yesterday, while a further 260 volunteers from Opotiki to East Cape have been trained and are ready to launch into action.
As of this morning, almost 5500 volunteer registrations had been received.
As of last night, 181 birds were being treated at the Oiled Wildlife Recovery Centre. Three fur seals were also in care.
About 1250 dead birds have been recovered.
