A cargo ship that ran aground on a reef off the coast of New Zealand last year has split in two, spewing debris and triggering the possibility of a new oil spill, officials said Sunday. Hundreds of tonnes of oil have already leaked from the ship, leading New Zealand's environment minister, Nick Smith, to call the spill the country's most significant maritime environmental disaster. The sections of the ship, which are about 20 to 30 meters (65 to 98 feet) apart now, remain on the Astrolabe Reef, according to a report of CNN. 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.
