Barge leads arsenal against oil spills

New Zealand has its first skimmer barge for combating marine oil spills.

Transport Safety Minister Harry Duynhoven launched the 8.2m barge, Taranui, at Marsden Pt oil refinery in Northland yesterday.

Design and construction of the $200,000 barge has taken 18 months but its genesis dates back further, said Nick Quinn, marine pollution response manager for the Marine Safety Authority (MSA).

"Since around the time of the Jody F Millennium spill (at Gisborne in 2002) we've been working with some of our partners to strengthen New Zealand's extensive oil spill response arsenal," he said.

"Having the Taranui means that rather than waiting to collect oil during a big spill, we can now go and try and recover it."

The Taranui is being leased by the New Zealand Refining Company for 10 years and will be based at Marsden Pt as part of the firm's oil spill response plan.

The barge can be used to collect and retrieve oil, spread dispersant or place a skimmer (oil retrieval device).

It is based on a United States design and was built at Kumeu.

Two more barges have been approved by the Oil Pollution Advisory Committee and MSA.

The vessels should be ready by the end of June.

- NZPA