Wine stuck fast in a hard place (NZ)

Astrolabe Wines still has wine stuck on stricken ship the Rena and no insurance claim can be lodged until the wine is retrieved. General manager Jason Yank said his Marlborough wine company had $400,000 worth of wine on the ship that, in a cruel coincidence, hit the Astrolabe Reef in the Bay of Plenty in October. The wine was technically owned by the European importer as soon as it was put on the ship, however Astrolabe Wines has not been paid because the consignment never arrived, reports The Marlborough Express.