On-board poisoned tanker: Footage from stricken ship 

A salvage crew has finally managed to board a cargo ship that has spilled hundreds of tons of oil since striking a reef off the coast of New Zealand. Video filmed on board by the Maritime New Zealand salvage operation team on Thursday showed the vessel had been fractured by a large crack. No decisions have been made on whether oil can be pumped from the ship before the vessel breaks up. Heavy seas had kept the team away from the 775-foot (236-metre) vessel for days, but a break in the weather allowed three crew members to be winched aboard the Liberian-flagged Rena, which ran aground October 5 on Astrolabe Reef, 14 miles (22 kilometres) from Tauranga Harbour on New Zealand's North Island. The vessel has been listing in the stormy ocean. A vertical crack in the ship runs around the entire vessel - meaning the ship is now only held together by its internal components. Several of the 88 containers that fell off the deck had washed ashore by Thursday, and authorities confirmed one container that toppled overboard contained a hazardous substance. Six vessels have been mobilised to intercept the drifting containers and other debris in the water. There were 1,368 containers on board, 11 of which contained hazardous substances. Some of the contents of containers that had washed ashore were strewn across the coastline on Thursday, including thousands of meat patties that littered the sand. 

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