Korean boat to be blown-up

A fire damaged fishing trawler is set to be blown-up and dumped off the Otago coast.

The Dong Won 701 was gutted in a fire at Timaru’s port in April 2018.

The 70m long vessel has remained moored at the South Canterbury port, but the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has confirmed on April 30 it granted consent for the vessel to be dumped, 25 nautical miles south-east of Otago Harbour.

That included the detonation of explosives, but not if any marine mammals were visually observed within 600m of the vessel in the 30 minutes prior.

That move was slammed by Oil Free Otago spokeswoman Rosemary Penwarden who told Stuff ’’our ocean is not a rubbish dump’’.

The Otago coast was a pristine ecological environment, which needed protection, she said.

‘‘We have absolutely no right to go dumping dead boats in our ocean.’’

Penwarden was disappointed the decision was non-notified.

A spokeswoman for the Environmental Protection Authority confirmed a marine dumping consent was not required by legislation to be publicly notified.

There were five designated sites for marine dumping along New Zealand’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), with the Otago

site chosen because it was the closest authorised dumping site to PrimePort, Timaru, she said.

That decision noted there were no designated dumping sites within the high seas, which is outside New Zealand’s jurisdiction, and ‘‘permission to do so would require a higher level of environmental assessment than for dumping within the EEZ’’.

The decision also noted the ‘‘significant risk’’ in towing the vessel into the high seas.

The consent holder would have to note the position of where

‘‘It has been a long time coming.’’

Phil Melhopt

PrimePort Timaru chief executive

the vessel was dumped off the Otago coast, and keep photographic records of any floating debris.

The dumping consent expires on 31 December 2021.

PrimePort Timaru chief executive Phil Melhopt said he was looking forward to seeing the Dong Won leave the port as it would create space for other vessels.

‘‘It has been a long time coming. While they were paying for the space, it is good to have the berth space freed up too.’’

Melhopt said the ship would remain docked in Timaru for at least two months until preparations for its disposal have been completed by the company.

‘‘It’s going to take a while to prepare for the disposal of the ship at sea so it stays here until then.’’

The fire, which lasted eight days, cost Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) $120,000 to extinguish as crews from Invercargill, Dunedin, Christchurch, Nelson and Timaru were called in.

A report by the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) said that ‘‘delays in sounding the alarm, the inefficient mustering of available crew and a failure to follow good industry practice for fighting the fire allowed it to spread rapidly’’.