Cracks Appear in Stricken Ship Spilling Oil Onto N.Z. Coast
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New Zealand’s biggest maritime environmental disaster may worsen as the stranded container ship leaking oil off the nation’s northeast coast has cracks in its hull and is tilting in high seas, tipping cargo overboard.
“There are substantial cracks and stress fractures now in the hull of the ship and therefore the probability of it breaking up has to be substantially increased,” Prime Minister John Key said at a televised news conference in Tauranga today.