The cargo ship that ran aground in the Bay of Plenty close to Tauranga in Auckland, New Zealand may be the cause of an extensive oil leakage as it was found with fissures in its hull and is now leaning in the high seas.

The container vessel Rena, which was reported by Business Week as carrying 1,700 metric tons of fuel oil and 1,368 containers, has possibly spilled nearly 350 tons of oil, which is washing up on beaches, while 70 containers are believed to be lying in the water.

More than 30 oil spills and disasters have been recorded since 1967 and one of this was in Queensland, Australia on March 11, 2009 when the container ship MV Pacific Adventurer was hit by Cyclone Hamish causing it to release 52,000 gallons of heavy fuel and more than 600 tons of ammonium nitrate into the Coral Sea.

Almost 60 kilometers of the Sunshine Coast was covered in oil, necessitating he closure of half of the beaches in the area.

Oil spills damage the ecosystems and once the grease reaches the beach, it smothers and clings to every rock and grain of sand.

If it is washed into coastal marshes, mangrove forests or other wetlands, fibrous plants and grasses absorb the oil which can harm the plants and make the whole area incongruous as wildlife habitat.

In a news conference, Prime Minister John Key said that "Whoever is responsible for this has to be held to account. The responsibilities of those on the ship were to navigate a reef that is well documented and the whole nation is entitled to have answers about why that happened."

The cargo on the 32-year-old, Liberian-flagged Rena, included four containers of ferrosilicon, a solid substance that can be hazardous when in contact with water and can emit hydrogen, according to maritime authorities.

New Zealand officials are trying to find out how the vessel settled on the Astrolabe Reef after interviewing crew on duty during the accident and seizing recording and navigation equipment, according to a statement found in the Transport Accident Investigation Commission's website.

However, the inquiry's final analysis may not be ready until the middle of 2012, the statement said.

Oil spills are very destructive since these are responsible for killing fish, birds, marine mammals and wiping out wildlife environment and breeding grounds.

"It is New Zealand's most significant maritime environmental disaster," Environment Minister Nick Smith told reporters in Tauranga.