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The captain of the Rena has pleaded guilty
to six charges laid against him.
He appeared in the Tauranga District Court today,
but iwi leaders say he's the least of their concerns
as they continue to try and move the sunken vessel.
The captain of the Rena still has name suppression.
Today he pleaded guilty to six charges:
operating a vessel in a manner likely to cause danger;
for discharging a contaminant;
for altering ship documents.
Although the people are furious about what this man has done,
we have left it for the courts to judge him.
The important thing to us is restoring the sea.
We're not concerned with punishing a single man, but our ocean.
Five months on from the Rena running aground at Astrolabe Reef
it still remains at the site.
How do you get that ship off the Astrolabe Reef?
That's the issue confronting Tauranga tribes.
Motiti is the home of Nepia Ranapia he says the island is almost back
to its once pristine condition but it's the cherished seafood
that they hope will be safe to eat again soon.
The northern end of the reef is no good,
but a lot of the seafood are fine.
Not like overseas - they take years to restore -
but here it wont take long at all.
The captain is due to be sentenced in May,
meanwhile the Maori people will continue to clean the waters
until it is clean.
Irena Smith, Te Karere.