Barely enough resources were available to refloat the Jody F Millennium, grounded off Gisborne, Maritime Safety Authority director Russell Kilvington said yesterday.
"There were just enough appropriate resources that came just in time and stayed just long enough," he told Parliament's transport and industrial relations select committee.
"It was a source of
major concern to me throughout the operation that we were quite ... limited."
The Japanese-owned log carrier ran aground on a sandbank on Waitangi Day.
It was refloated 18 days later.
Mr Kilvington, whose organisation's core responsibility is to prevent or clean up pollution, said workers were "very, very tired" at the end of the salvage.
Although he had enough equipment, he had looked at requisitioning more tugs. But he found he had legal power to requisition only New Zealand-owned vessels, ruling out a tug that was owned in Panama but operated in New Zealand.
He had come close to calling in an overseas salvage adviser, and still wondered whether he should have.
"If it had got any bigger ... maybe we should have invoked getting an international expert to go alongside," he said.
"We should look to bring in further expertise earlier ... if there is a next time."
A report on the incident would determine whether he took legal action over the grounding.
Mr Kilvington praised the local community for their support through what had been a difficult time.
Although there had been criticism of how long it had taken to refloat the vessel, and to get logs and environment-endangering oil off it, he was happy with what had been done.
"My view is that response - which was necessary when some 25 tonnes of fuel oil came out - was carried out in a very timely and very appropriate manner.
"Overall we were very, very content."
Salvages were technically challenging, requiring calculations and assessments, sea bed surveys, and divers to inspect the hull.
"There was a simply necessary elapsed time, which of course gave rise to understandable public frustration," he said.
"I am perfectly satisfied from the salvage point of view that [the salvors] were progressing at an appropriate pace."
Repairs to the hull are being done in Tauranga.
Divers are to weld a patch over one of the ship's discharge valves.
The log carrier arrived in Tauranga under tow on Saturday night and is expected to be there until at least Sunday.
Once emptied of 20,000 tonnes of logs and temporary repairs completed, it will be towed to an as-yet-unnamed port for permanent repairs.
- NZPA
nzherald.co.nz/marine
