Stricken ship will be towed to Japan

By BRIDGET CARTER

A tug boat from Whangarei is expected to haul a giant ironsand carrier away from the west coast of Northland today, allaying concerns of an oil or diesel spillage.

The Taharoa Express, which struck mechanical problems on Monday, had been drifting off the coast of Dargaville but was last night anchored safely about 6km offshore.

The 140,000-tonne vessel had been on its way back to Japan fully laden with ironsand after leaving an offshore loading terminal at Taharoa, south of Kawhia, on the west coast.

The ship's propellor shaft had broken in water too deep for the vessel to drop anchor and the Taharoa Express spent all night drifting closer to the coast before finally dropping anchor at 5am yesterday.

It was carrying 1100 tonnes of heavy fuel and 370 tonnes of diesel.

Two tugs, the Tuakana from New Plymouth and the Sea Tow 25 from Whangarei, will today start taking the ship out into the ocean to meet a tug from Japan.

The owner of the Taharoa Express, Japanese shipping company Hachiuma, plans to carry out repairs in Japan. The journey may take two weeks.

The Maritime Safety Authority says there is no port deep enough in New Zealand to take the vessel.

An authority inspection a week ago found a crack in the ship's propeller shaft.

Authority spokeswoman Helen Mojel said an inspector at New Plymouth was satisfied the problem had been fixed.

The ship was cleared to sail on condition it travelled slowly and remained 10 nautical miles offshore because of concerns that a large amount of oil or diesel could spill along the coastline.

But on Monday, off the coast of Dargaville, the crew discovered the problem had deteriorated and shut down the engines at 3.30pm.

The shaft would now have to be replaced rather than repaired.

Ms Mojel said the weather was expected to be fine for the next few days and there was nothing to suggest the ship might break up or sink.

She could not confirm how many people were on board.

The authority's Northland inspector was airlifted on board the Taharoa Express on Monday to relay the authority's concerns to the ship's master.

The Taharoa Express has made regular trips from Japan to New Zealand since 1999.

Further reading: nzherald.co.nz/marine