How about this for a piece of bad luck and coincidence!

The 236 metre container ship Rena, stuck fast on the Astrolabe reef five kilometres off the Tauranga coastline since last Wednesday, is carrying a shipment of wine from a Blenheim wine company with the same name as the reef.

4000 cases of Astrolabe Wine’s Sauvignon Blanc, with a value of $780,000, is on the Rena, destined for Irish palates at Christmas time.

Astrolabe is the name for an ancient mariner’s navigational instrument, and also of French explorer Dumont d’Urville’s ship.

Jason Yank, general manager of Astrolabe Wines says when they first heard about the stranding they thought

“what were the chances of that happening, Astrolabe hitting Astrolabe?

"Then we soon realized this was no laughing matter at all and we’re now not really that concerned about the wine, we’re concerned about what’s going to happen to our marine life and coastal region.”

The company hopes to despatch an emergency shipment of Astrolabe Sauvignon Blanc to Dublin this week, and is looking to salvage its shipment from the Rena.

Meanwhile the Rena, which is carrying 1700 tonnes of heavy fuel oil,  is now leaking oil from its tanks, a narrow slick stretching several kilometres from the vessel.

Environment Minister Nick Smith says the oil spill has the potential to be New Zealand’s most significant maritime pollution disaster in decades.