Salvage attempt on Hole in the Rock ferry will depend on the weather

A first attempt to refloat and salvage the stranded 23m Fullers Bay Of Islands catamaran Tiger 3 from rocks at Cape Brett may be made today.

"It depends on the weather. We'll make a decision in the morning," company chief executive Kit Nixon said yesterday.

A team from Wellington-based NZ Diving and Salvage has been engaged for the job.

The catamaran, with 59 passengers and three crew on board, went aground below Cape Brett lighthouse at the southern entrance to the Bay of Islands on Saturday.

It had been on Fullers' Hole in the Rock trip to nearby Piercy Island when an engine failure is thought to have forced skipper David Rivington to ground it on rocks.

That allowed all passengers to escape to the lighthouse landing without injury.

From there, all were returned to Paihia by helicopter.

Northland Regional Council harbourmaster Ian Niblock said about 700 litres of diesel had leaked from the ferry's ruptured port fuel tank.

"It would have broken up quickly and dispersed in the conditions we had on Saturday night," he said.

A five-person council oil spill response unit yesterday used a regional council boat, the Waikare, and a dive support vessel to retrieve about 1000 litres of fuel from the Tiger 3's intact starboard tank.

Fuel was pumped into drums on the support vessel.

The drums were then transferred to the Waikare.

The Waikare was too big to go in close to the catamaran in the location it had grounded, Mr Niblock said.

Depending on weather, it was hoped to complete the fuel retrieval operation by last night.

Meanwhile, Fullers' owner, THL, said in a statement yesterday that it has full insurance coverage for the incident, both for replacement of the vessel and loss of profits.

No material impact on THL earnings predictions is expected, the company said.