Ban urged after tanker crisis

Maritime Safety Authority officers are investigating why an oil tanker carrying crude oil was taken into Marsden Pt in rough sea after its hull split.

The ballast tanks of the 13-year-old double-hulled supertanker Capella Voyager - which was carrying 108,000 tonnes of oil from the Persian Gulf - took several thousand tonnes of water after its hull split last Wednesday.

The authority's deputy director of standards and compliance, Bruce Marok, said the hull apparently was damaged while the 80,000-tonne tanker was entering the port.

There had been heavy swells of up to 6m at the time.

He said the decision to enter was at the discretion of the master of the ship. However, the harbourmaster also had an obligation to close the port if there were any safety concerns.

"Why they elected to come in at that stage is a matter of the investigation we are conducting."

Mr Marok said the investigation could take up to three months.

Whangarei harbourmaster Ian Niblock said it would be inappropriate for him to comment on the incident while it was under investigation.

Yesterday, temporary repair work was under way on the hull so it could be moved to a dry-dock overseas.

Its cargo had been unloaded and it would not leave the port until the authority was satisfied with the repairs. The Capella Voyager incident has added fuel to calls for maritime safety rules to be tightened.

Authority studies showed the ecologically precious east coast of Northland is New Zealand's highest risk zone for oil spills and the busiest shipping route for large vessels.

Tutukaka-based marine conservation expert Wade Doak said Northland was vulnerable to a major disaster, with several near misses in the past five years.

Spills of bilge oil had washed on to the pristine marine reserve around the Poor Knights Islands in 1998 and 1999.

The stranding of the Taharoa Express, which lost engine power off the coast of Dargaville on March 31, also showed how vulnerable Northland was, Mr Doak said.

In January, the authority asked the International Maritime Organisation to declare the coastline from Cape Brett to Bream Head a compulsory no-go zone for ships over 45m in length.

If approved, the Area to be Avoided would extend for five nautical miles from land and would stop ships going between the Poor Knights Islands and the mainland.

Mr Niblock said the Northland Regional Council had asked for the ban after oil spills in the Tutukaka channel in 1998 and 1999.

But Mr Doak said that change was not going far enough.

Maritime officials should look at the practicality of tracking ships' movements more closely and inspecting ships before they came to New Zealand.

New Zealand should join Europe and America in considering a ban on single hull tankers or it would become the only port of call for "old rust buckets".

"They're taking strong measures in America and Europe but we are a lot worse off than those countries because we are a long way from help should disaster strike."

Mr Niblock said the Northland Regional Council would be looking at the issue of towage after the stranding of the Taharoa Express.

The authority's Mr Marok said the authority was in the middle of reviewing the safety performance of New Zealand's ports.

- NZPA

What next

The Maritime Safety Authority has asked shipping companies to ban ships over 45m from an area between Cape Brett and Bream Head.

This would stop ships going between the Poor Knights Islands and the mainland.

The MSA is reviewing port safety following groundings at Gisborne and Bluff last year.

Further reading: nzherald.co.nz/marine