Water, not chemical leak, triggers rescue at Port of Tauranga

Emergency services rushed to the Port of Tauranga this afternoon to a suspected hazardous chemical leak from a shipping container.

But it was only water.

Fire and Emergency northern communications shift manager Daniel Nicholson said five crews were called to the scene at Sulphur Point at 1.03pm.

Police and St John Ambulance also attended.

Nicholson said the Port had reported that a driver of a mobile straddle carrier was feeling nauseous. Firefighters worked to get the person down.

Two straddle drivers in the vicinity of the container had since been checked and cleared by ambulance staff, and operations had returned to normal.

A Port of Tauranga spokeswoman said emergency services have established there was no leak from a container carrying hazardous chemicals.

The liquid seen as the container was being unloaded has been identified as water, she said.

"Staff working nearby were evacuated according to standard procedures and checked by ambulance officers as a precaution."

An exclusion zone was established around the container's location while it was examined.

Paramedics assess a port worker at the scene. Photo/John Borren