Boaties in the Bay of Plenty should not head out on the water unless they have to as debris from the partly submerged Rena spreads further, the Bay of Plenty harbour master says.
Debris floating in the water from stricken container ship Rena, which split in two in wild seas last week, after it ran aground on the Astrolabe Reef in October, has spread, and today has been spotted around Volkner Rocks in the eastern Bay of Plenty.
On Monday boaties were advised to stay off the water in western Bay of Plenty because of the large amount of debris in the water, and today that warning was extended to cover the eastern Bay of Plenty.
Any unnecessary voyages should be avoided, harbourmaster Brian Spake said.
"If vessels in the eastern Bay of Plenty do go out, they should maintain a proper lookout by sight and sound and travel at slow speed while transiting local waters,'' he said.
Boaties should not be on the water at night, he said.
A three nautical mile exclusion zone also remains around the Astrolabe Reef.
Meanwhile rough weather has subsided in Tauranga as salvage teams prepare to carry out further work on the partly submerged Rena.
A salvage dive team is on standby to go down and assess the condition of the submerged stern, which has mostly slipped beneath the waves, with only about a quarter above the waterline, when conditions allow.
Rough seas and the dangerous state of the wreck, have stalled dive operations all week.
The dive inspection would confirm the state of the stern and identify any underwater obstructions, helping to guide the next steps in the salvage operation, said MNZ.
Svitzer is planning to take crane barge Smit Borneo out to the reef this afternoon if weather conditions permit, to then be positioned over the weekend for container removal to begin again.
Aerial observation flights to Rena this morning confirmed no change to the state of the wreck, and there appeared to be less oil leaking from the vessel. Waihi Beach is free of containers, with 17 taken away for processing.
Work continues to recover the 11 containers on Matakana Island.
Fresh oil has been found at Papamoa East and small spots of oil stretching over 2km of coastline, have been found by shoreline clean-up teams.
One oiled little blue penguin was collected from Papamoa Beach last night and a further six stabilised at the Te Maunga wildlife facility were transported to Palmerston North for cleaning and rehabilitation last night.
