New Zealand: 'Challenging task' facing salvage teams

Salvage teams are racing to extract oil from a leaking container ship stranded off New Zealand, ahead of gale-force winds and swells forecast for Monday.

The MV Rena has already leaked 20-30 tonnes of oil since it struck a reef in the Bay of Plenty on Wednesday.

Some of the oil has reached land. Officials fear that if the ship breaks up in the bad weather, 1,700 tonnes of fuel could be released into the area.

Ross Henderson, a spokesman for Maritime New Zealand's salvage response team, told the BBC it was "a very complicated, challenging task".