KEY POINTS:
A heavy lift helicopter will drop diggers on to the bulk iron sand carrier Taharoa Express in Tasman Bay in the next few days to move its cargo.
The ship has been in the bay since June 22 when its cargo of ironsand moved and it took on a 18-degree list south of Cape Egmont.
The ironsand had been mixed with water and pumped on board as a slurry from a loading buoy at Taharoa south of Raglan.
The ship was only part-loaded when it developed a problem after fresh water pumped on with the ironsand leaked into the keel and caused electrical problems.
The Taharoa harbourmaster ordered a halt to loading and because of the bad weather it had to slip the buoy.
The ship headed south to Nelson, the nearest safe port but during the trip the load shifted and the ship took on a list to starboard.
The ship continued its voyage in heavy eight metre seas and 85km northwesterly winds until it reached Tasman Bay.
Pumps were taken to the ship and for several days water was removed from the cargo and the list improved.
Maritime New Zealand said yesterday that the ship was now on an even keel but it imposed several conditions on the master before it could leave the bay and head back to Taharoa to continue loading ironsand.
MNZ spokesman Ross Henderson said the cargo of ironsand had to be levelled so it did not need counter ballast to correct the list.
"They need to ensure that it has been levelled off to such an extent that the minimum amount of counter ballast is required to keep it level."
The ironsand would be levelled with diggers which would be flown to the ship by a heavy lift helicopter, he said.
Once the list had been corrected the ship would return to Taharoa to finish loading another 60,000 tonnes of ironsand for Japan and China.
"We need to be completely satisfied that it is safe for them to do so and that is why we have imposed this condition in relation to making sure the load is stable," Mr Henderson said.
Shifting the cargo was expected to take another five or six days and the ship would be released only after that.
- NZPA
