Police close Waihi Beach as shipping containers come ashore . The cargo ship broke in about 12 over October . It ran aground off Waihi Beach the North Island in the weekend . The Rena , a Liberian-flagged vessel , struck the Astrolabe Reef , about 12 nautical miles off the city of Tauranga , on the North Island , in October . Government : Spill is country 's most significant maritime environmental disaster .
Police close Waihi Beach as shipping containers come ashore . The cargo ship broke in about 12 over October . It ran aground off Waihi Beach the North Island in the weekend . Government : Spill is country 's most significant maritime environmental disaster .