The salvage of wrecked container ship Rena has become the second-most expensive salvage operation in history, reports IHS Maritime. It cost a total USD 317.2 million to salvage and empty the container ship after it ran ashore a reef off Tauranga in New Zealand in 2011.

The Rena incident is thus surpassed only by the wreck of cruise ship Costa Concordia, which resulted in a salvage operation totaling around USD 1 billion. After fours years spent cleaning the Rena wreck, the ship's owner, Diana Shipping, is trying to get permission to leave behind the remains of the 47,000 ton vessel, which is no longer deemed harmful to the environment.