Frantic race to pump oil from stricken ship off New Zealand

Salvage teams raced on Monday to pump oil from a stricken container ship off the New Zealand coast ahead of bad weather which could split the vessel into two pieces spewing more oil onto local beaches.

The Liberian-flagged Rena has been stuck for 12 days on a reef 14 miles (22 km) off Tauranga on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island, having already spilled about 350 tonnes of heavy toxic fuel and some of its hundreds of containers into the sea. (Reuters)