Asia/Pacific News
Cargo Ship Spills Fuel During Bunker Transfer
New Zealand authorities Tuesday said they have begun a clean up effort after bunkers were spilled during a fuel transfer to Ningpo at a berth of Northport in the country's Whangarei Harbour.
According to reports, the pipeline for bunkering broke during the transfer, spilling an unknown quantity of fuel into the water.
Regional Harbourmaster for the Northland Regional Council, Jim Lyle, said that specialised oil containment booms had been put in place around the multipurpose cargo ship.
Local authorities were reported to have also dispatched two oil collection boats to start water cleaning and to prevent further contamination to the nearby coastal region.
The cargo ship was detained for further inspection and investigation into the cause of the spill.
"We will focus on following investigation for the cause of the incident and to protecting the local environment," the Regional Harbourmaster was quoted as saying.
He added that some oil has already reached the shore at Marsden Cove.
The cargo ship Ningpo was built in 1997 by New Szczecin Shipyard in Poland and operated by Singapore company China Navigation.
In December 2014, Ship & Bunker reported that several hundreds of litres of bunkers spilled from a crude oil tanker calling at an oil refinery in Whangarei Harbour.
