Environmental officers are on board the Rena assessing noxious fumes from the rotting food on board.
It could take at least a year for the Bay of Plenty to recover from the Rena crisis, and officials are still preparing for all the stricken ship's remaining oil and containers to be lost into the sea.
Salvors will return to the Rena this morning after bad weather forced them off the stricken container ship last night.
The cargo ship Rena is still in one piece this morning (Wednesday) but conditions around the stranded vessel remain poor with rough seas and strong winds.
High sea swells overnight have caused further damage to the hull of Rena as salvors prepare for the worst, with more rough weather expected in the region.
Bad weather and anticipated swells of up to 5m have once again put the Rena salvage operation on hold, with salvors hoping this won't result in the remaining 358 tonnes of oil on the stricken vessel spilling into the Bay of Plenty.
Bay of Plenty is bracing for another possibly major - spill from the Rena as stormy weather threatens the crippled container ship anew.
Far down in the engine room, below five flights of bent ladders, the floor slopes sideways and is covered with oily muck.
Three salvage teams of three have been airlifted onto the stricken container ship Rena this morning.
Just over 70 tonnes of oil had been pumped from the stricken carho ship Rena by 5.30pm today.
Oil and containers that have tumbled from the stricken cargo ship Rena have begun washing up more than 130 kilometres away on picturesque East Cape beaches.
A salvage team has begun pumping oil from the stricken cargo vessel Rena and plans to stay on the ship and into tomorrow to get the job done.
About 500 oil spill workers have been on Bay of Plenty beaches today, removing patches of gluggy spillage from the stranded and breaking Rena.
Police are urging rubberneckers to steer clear of oil-covered Bay of Plenty beaches this weekend to let clean-up crews get on with their work unhindered.
No oil will be pumped off Rena today, and salvors say the "grinding and groaning" ship is more unstable than originally thought.
The crippled MV Rena could be a blot on the Bay of Plenty coastline well into next year if bad weather doesn't smash it apart.
Hopes that Bay of Plenty beaches would reopen this weekend have been dashed after tides and weather revealed more oil from grounded vessel Rena on the cleaned areas.
Oil from the stricken vessel Rena could reach the Coromandel in as few as three days, says Maritime New Zealand (MNZ).
Nearly a third of the oil on board grounded vessel Rena has been pumped off the ship.
A team of wildlife experts spent last night on Mayor Island as freshly leaked oil from the crippled Rena made its way towards the renowned Bay of Plenty marine reserve.