Blaze on Korean fishing boat ties up port
A fire aboard a Korean fishing vessel has delayed the arrival of four other ships in Timaru and extended the closure of the port.
The fire, which broke out on Monday evening, resulted in the port operator, PrimePort, initially closing the port until 10am yesterday but was extended twice – first to 2pm and then 8pm.
PrimePort chief executive Phil Melhopt said they would be reviewing port operations every six hours.
‘‘We now also have 3-metre southerly swells limiting our ability to receive vessels.
‘‘We will strive to resume operations as soon as safe to do so,’’ Melhopt said.
Fire crews are struggling to extinguish the blaze aboard the Dong Won 701.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand area commander Steven Greenyer said the fire was under control.
‘‘We are doing everything we can to extinguish the fire and ensure public safety.’’
Greenyer said the focus ‘‘is still on cooling the sides of the ship down and we will reassess the situation in a few hours to decide whether or not we can enter the ship to start dealing with the fire from the inside’’.
He said PrimePort was operating one tug boat around the vessel to help with cooling its sides.
‘‘We are also operating one hose line inside of the ship and may look at extending that further on board when we reassess the situation,’’ Greenyer said.
All road cordons had been lifted, except the one on the road leading directly to the port’s fuel terminal.
The Dong Won 701 arrived in port on Monday morning. It was due to leave on Tuesday.
It is owned by Korean fishing company Dong Won Fisheries.
Don Won NZ chief executive Tae Wang said yesterday the company was continuing to support the efforts of the emergency services, while its other priority was ‘‘looking after our crew’’ of 50 to 60.
Meanwhile, the Transport Accident Investigation Commission said the site investigation into the fire, conducted by a team which arrived on site on Tuesday afternoon, could take several days, while the full inquiry could take 18 months to two years.