Ship Spills Oil in Whangarei Harbour

By Aiswarya Lakshmi December 1, 2015

A Hong Kong-registered ship, Ning Po, has leaked some fuel but it is unclear how much has been spilled or what the cause of the leak was, say local media reports.

Officials worked to clear a fuel spill from the ship berthed at Northport in Whangarei Harbour. According to latest reports, the flow has stopped and a recovery and clean-up process is under way.

Sources say that several hundred litres of fuel oil has spilled into Whangarei Harbour.

Regional Harbourmaster for the Northland Regional Council, Jim Lyle, says authorities were alerted to the spill by Northport, the port operating company, about 8.30am today.

A team of several dozen trained responders, including regional council, Northport and Marsden Pt oil refinery staff, have been working to contain and recover what is roughly estimated to be about several hundred litres of fuel oil, Lyle says.

Northport has placed containment booms around the ship, the wharf and at either end of the port. The oil-skimming barge Taranui is involved in recovering the fuel from the area and incident support staff from Refining NZ are also helping.

There have been no confirmed reports of oiled wildlife.