Stranded ship leaking oil off NZ

6 October 2011 Last updated at 11:06 The container ship "Rena" has remained stranded on Astrolabe Reef since running aground A large container ship stuck on a reef off the coast of New Zealand is leaking oil.

Maritime New Zealand said the intermittent leak appeared to be coming from damaged pipes rather than from fuel tanks.

Four seabirds have so far been found dead in the oil slick, which extends about 5km (3 miles) from the ship.

The Liberia-flagged Rena struck the Astrolabe Reef about 12 nautical miles from Tauranga Harbour on Wednesday.

The agency says the 25 crew on board are safe and trying to stop more oil from leaking.

'Hazardous ship'

Transport Minister Steven Joyce said the situation was worse than first thought.

He said there was a "significant amount of oil" and warned the vessel could break up due to its "precarious" position on the reef.

Maritime NZ has officially declared the 47,000 tonne container vessel "a hazardous ship" - that gives the agency the power to take control of the salvage operation if it was deemed necessary.

The authority's on-site controller Rob Service said a monitoring flight over the stricken vessel on Thursday afternoon revealed the oil slick had doubled in size from earlier in the day.

"We are not aware of any actual breaches in the fuel tanks. However, because of the extensive damage to the vessel, it is difficult to determine accurately what is the scale and scope of the damage," he said.

Mr Service said it was not clear how much of the 1,700 tonnes of heavy fuel oil on board had leaked.

Testing using dispersants to break up the slick had proved ineffective.

New Zealand's Department of Conservation said the Astrolabe Reef was covered with colourful sponges and anemones, with seals and gamefish such as marlin common in surrounding waters.

Two wildlife rescue centres have been set up.

Sheep rescued after two weeks stranded on cliff

3 May 2011 Last updated at 17:10 The rescue operation lasted eight hours and involved 23 volunteers Six sheep stranded for a fortnight on a cliff face in the Trossachs have been brought to safety following an eight-hour rescue operation.

Twenty-three volunteers from four charities were involved in efforts to bring the animals off the steep ridge at Dunglass near Strathblane.

The operation was mounted after a local farmer alerted the Scottish SPCA and Trossachs Search and Rescue.

Specialised vehicles, equipment and were ropes used.

Land Rovers provided by Lothian 4x4 Response were used as 'anchors' to tie ropes to then members of Trossachs Search and Rescue and the High Access Rescue Team were lowered down to the sheep.

Four of the animals were guided uphill while two were placed in sacks and lowered to the ground.

'Technically challenging'

Scottish SPCA inspectors were on hand and supervised the operation to ensure the safety of the animals.

The operation was hampered by the recent dry conditions which meant that large spikes normally hammered into the soil during similar rescues could not be used as the earth was too crumbly.

Stuart Ballantyne of Trossachs Search and Rescue said: "Alisdair Bain is a very responsible farmer and called us in as soon as he realised the sheep were not going to escape from the cliff.

"He and his staff ensured they had sufficient feeding thrown to them on a daily basis until we could get the necessary resources together to mount this technically-challenging operation.

"This was a real partnership operation and we are all delighted that we rescued all six sheep and all are seem to be healthy and unharmed by their ordeal."