Supplier Fined Over 2015 Spill During Bunkering

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Monday May 16, 2016

Mobil Oil New Zealand (Mobil) Monday was fined NZ$288,000 ($195,00) over a spill in April last year that happened during ex-pipe bunkering operations in Tauranga Harbour, New Zealand, according to local media reports.

At the time it was unclear how much fuel was leaked, but court proceedings now reveal that between 2,000 and 6,000 litres was spilled leading to clean-up costs of NZ$1.187 million ($800,000).

Mobil says it has paid a total of some NZ$1.8 million ($1.2 million) over the incident.

Despite reimbursing local authorities for the clean-up costs, Mobil was prosecuted by Bay of Plenty Regional Council under the country's Resource Management Act.

Investigations were said to have revealed that a 30-year old pipe had rusted and the bunkers escaped through two holes.

"This sends a very clear message to all these people operating in a high-risk environment that they need to keep on top of their game," said Bay of Plenty Regional Council pollution prevention manager, Nick Zaman.

"If you don't keep on top of maintenance it's a disaster waiting to happen. Companies should really take note that they need to keep on top of this - it's just not good enough to do things as an after-thought."

Mobil is reported to have apologised for the incident and imporved its Bay of Plenty operations as a result.

At the time of the spill, Ship & Bunker reported that in response to the ambiguity over the volume of the spill, Mobil said that "In some senses, the volume itself is irrelevant, it's whether the response is appropriate," adding that "we can be absolutely confident the Bay of Plenty Regional Council has manned an excellent response."