On the evening of February 6, 2002, large swells in the harbour caused the ship, loaded with 20,000 tonnes of logs, to break several of its moorings.
As attempts by tugs to hold the ship against the wharf were unsuccessful, it was decided to take the vessel to sea.
After leaving the port, the ship could not be handled, and after being hit by a heavy swell went aground off Waikanae Beach.
Some logs were lost overboard and heavy fuel oil leaked from a ruptured tank in the ship's bottom.
Subsequently, Australian salvage experts were called in and heavy equipment was flown in to allow salvage attempts on the vessel, which had worked its way more than 5m into a sandy trench.
The operation required much cargo to be removed to lighten the vessel before it was refloated 18 days later.
It was then towed to Tauranga where the rest of the cargo was unloaded and divers patched holes in the hull.
It arrived in Tauranga on March 2 and departed 16 days later at the start of a 40-day towage operation back to its builders' yard in Japan.
The 470gt Melbourne salvage tug Keera, which towed the vessel from Gisborne to Tauranga, also undertook the first part of the tow back to Japan before handing the operation over to a Japanese tug.
Built by the Imabari Shipbuilding Company, the vessel was laid down as Yard No. 554 on June 29, 1999, and launched as the Jody F Millennium on December 26.
It was delivered on February 24, 2000, to Twin Bright Shipping SA, a company owned by Soki Kisen KK of Ehime, for service under the flag of Panama.
After the vessel was repaired, it was renamed the Millennium Bright in June 2002.
In late November 2006, the ship went aground hear the port of Nepoui, a town on the west coast of New Caledonia which was build to cater for the mineral industry, mainly nickel mining.
It was refloated on a high tide with assistance from two tugs.
In June 2008, the ship was renamed Singapore Grace when it was sold to Singapore Grace Shipping Ltd, and transferred to Hong Kong registry.
The 15,071gt, 25,369dwt vessel received its current name last April when acquired by Birch Shipping Ltd, of Hong Kong, a new company that first appeared on the scene a few weeks before.
It is part of Clearwater Marine Investments, established in 2002, which is organised under Woodstreet brand names.
These focus mainly on the maritime sector through significant holdings in the Woodstreet Shipholding Group AS, which includes the Wallem Group, one of the largest and best-known companies in eastern waters.
Another Hong Kong-registered vessel calling for the first time last week was the Jupiter Shipping Company's 37,814gt, 2686teu Sky Jupiter.
The vessel, with its extensive superstructure block topped by twin athwartship funnels, has been on charter to Mediterranean Shipping since June.
The ship was completed by the Chantiers de l'Atlantique yard at St Nazaire in November 1985, as CR Tokyo, owned by Chargeurs Reunis of Le Havre.
But from 1987 it traded under the names Maersk Tokyo, Nedlloyd Tokyo, Sea Cavalier and Raleigh Bay before becoming P&O Nedlloyd Brisbane in 1997.
Following the 2005 takeover of P&O Nedlloyd by Maersk, the ship was renamed Maersk Nara in 2006.
It was given its present name the following year when six units of the integrated fleet were sold to the Tianjin Centrans Shipping Management Company of Tianjin, which registered them under the ownership of single-ship companies.
The vessel's builder, now STX Europe, has built 10 of the cruise ships seen here since 1988.
Only one other cargo vessel built by them has been seen in this harbour.
It was the 29,259gt, 1981-built container ship P&O Nedlloyd Taranaki, which made the first of 27 visits on September 4, 2000, and the last on June 22, 2004.
