ABSTRACT
New Zealanders have a genuine pride in their natural environment. Tourism New Zealand brands our country as ’100 per cent pure’ with a focus on the purity of nature. Perhaps partly due to the 100 per cent pure image, the residents of the Bay of Plenty were horrified when the container ship MV Rena ran aground on Astrolabe Reef 12 nautical miles off the coast of the Bay of Plenty in October 2011. Dismay and anger was expressed that this accident could have happened at all as the reef is clearly marked on marine charts, and second because media reported that the vessel had previously failed maintenance checks and not carried out required maintenance between surveys (Donnell and Warmington, 2011). Media accounts also noted that the ship’s cargo included containers with hazardous material (Backhouse, 2011). Within days, a large crack appeared in the hull and oil began to leak from the vessel, with a trail of oil visible and oiled seabirds being rescued from the sea. A day later, oil was haemorrhaging into the sea amid fears of a major environmental disaster. Five days after the ship grounded, coastal communities woke to ‘black tides’ as oil washed up on the beaches.
