Ship's oil blunder costs Danish firm $30,000

The ARC says the clean-up was hampered by the ship's captain claiming that only 10 to 20 litres had been spilled, instead of 1000 litres. Photo / Supplied

A Danish shipping company has been fined $30,000 after spilling about 1000 litres of diesel and oil into the Waitemata Harbour.

The spill created a slick 500m wide, which floated across the harbour, under the harbour bridge, and coated a number of boats before washing up on the beach at Little Shoal Bay, near Birkenhead.

K/S Dania Spring - owner of the cargo ship Thor Spring - has been convicted of discharging diesel and heavy fuel oil into the sea by Environment Court judge Fred McElrea (sitting in the Auckland District Court) after an accident on November 29, 2008.

In an agreed summary of facts, prosecutors for the Auckland Regional Council said officers' efforts to clean up the spill were hampered because the ship's captain had told them only 10 to 20 litres of diesel and oil had spilled.

Representatives for the shipping company later agreed the real amount spilled was about 1000 litres.

The spill seems to have been caused when crew over-filled a fuel tank while filling up at Auckland port.

Little Shoal Bay was closed from November 29 to December 2, 2008, while authorities used a bulldozer to remove 4 tonnes of contaminated sand and debris after some of the spill washed up there.

Authorities were alerted to the slick only after a member of the public spotted it and called the Fire Service.

In a letter to the shipping company, Ports of Auckland general manager Wayne Mills said he was concerned no one from the company had reported the spill.

Crew were seen running around using sawdust to clean the deck of the ship about 10 minutes after the overflow, about 5.18pm.

The ship's representatives said the master of Thor Spring called the company, Graig Ship Management, on an emergency line at 5.40pm to say there had been a spill.

The shipping company paid the regional council $16,858 for the cost of the beach clean up and the council will receive 90 per cent of the $30,000 fine.

Lawyers for Thor Spring did not return the Herald's messages last week. A spokesman for the ship's New Zealand agent, Wilhelmsen Ships Service, said he did not wish to comment.