KEY POINTS:
A salvage crew has safely boarded the stricken commercial fishing boat, Seawyf, near the entrance to the Mangonui Harbour.
The Seawyf ran aground on the Fair Way Reef in the early ours of yesterday morning and a diesel leak could be seen spreading up to 2km from the vessel.
Northland Regional Council Harbourmaster Ian Niblock said up to 600 litres of diesel had leaked from one of the ship's fuel tanks but 2400 litres was still safely stored and would be removed from the ship as soon as possible.
"Fortunately, diesel is quite a light fuel and it appears that the diesel that did escape has broken up quite quickly with no obvious signs of any damage to the marine environment or wildlife," Mr Niblock said.
He said the weather had improved today after 25 knot south-westerly winds made the salvage assessment too dangerous to be carried out yesterday.
Mr Niblock said it could be a number of days before the salvage team could re-float the ship and it could be difficult, given the ship's exposed location.
Te Runanga Rarawa, the iwi based between the Hokianga and Maungataniwha, own the Seawyf.
Runanga chief executive Kevin Robinson told Radio New Zealand that the Seawyf had only recently been purchased by the iwi but was insured.
He told nzherald.co.nz that he would not be making any further comment until tomorrow when he would release a statement.
- NZHERALD STAFF
