Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

German firm faces $30,000 fine for harbour oil spill

By Sandra Conchie
Bay of Plenty Times·
17 Mar, 2014 09:00 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Regional council officers inspecting the oil leak from the Liloa. Photo/Supplied

Regional council officers inspecting the oil leak from the Liloa. Photo/Supplied

The German owners of the container ship Liloa have been fined $30,000 for spilling 1000 litres of heavy fuel oil into Tauranga Harbour.

Schifffahrtsgesellschaft MS 'Jule' was sentenced in the Environment Court at Tauranga yesterday after the defendants earlier admitted a charge that a harmful substance was discharged into a coastal marine area. The maximum penalty for this type of offence is a fine of $600,000.

The oil spilled over the ship's deck and into the water during bunkering (refuelling) at the Port of Tauranga on July 3, 2013 and was mainly due to confusion between the chief engineer and second engineer about which tank should be refuelled.

The second engineer mistakenly directed the fuel oil be pumped into the No2 tank. By the time the Harbour Master arrived there was an oil slick stretching towards Mount Maunganui and among the boats on swing moorings at Pilot Bay, and a 100m by 600m oil sheen on the water around the ship's stern.

The next day there was a thicker, concentrated oily sheen at the northern end of Pilot Bay and light oil residues on the beach, the court was told.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Maritime NZ identified five deficiencies, including the ship's safety management system, which did not ensure the engineers followed proper bunkering procedures.

Stephen Park, a regional council environmental scientist, reported the spill had the potential to cause serious ecological damage and the outgoing tide may have lessened the overall effects.

Judge Jeff Smith took into account that the ship's owners had already paid the $17,107.96 cost of the clean-up response and had no prior relevant convictions.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Regional Council's pollution prevention manager Nick Zaman said he hoped this prosecution served as a warning to other vessel owners about the need to follow correct procedures.

Green Party spokesman Ian McLean said there should be measures in place to prevent such incidents from happening. "Any fine should have a sufficient sting to be a deterrent to other vessel owners and crew."

Discover more

New Zealand

Oil washes up on beaches as storm shifts Rena

21 Mar 06:38 AM
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

live
Bay of Plenty Times

Wild weather set to ease across the country, clean-up efforts begin

11 Jul 06:00 PM
Bay of Plenty Times

'Powerful example': Mum overcomes addiction to build a life helping others

11 Jul 06:00 PM
Bay of Plenty Times

Bay home crowd rallies behind netball's Magic

11 Jul 05:00 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Wild weather set to ease across the country, clean-up efforts begin
live

Wild weather set to ease across the country, clean-up efforts begin

11 Jul 06:00 PM

The North Island is expected to get off to a wet start this morning, with lingering rain.

'Powerful example': Mum overcomes addiction to build a life helping others

'Powerful example': Mum overcomes addiction to build a life helping others

11 Jul 06:00 PM
Bay home crowd rallies behind netball's Magic

Bay home crowd rallies behind netball's Magic

11 Jul 05:00 PM
Tearful hunter admits shooting and killing friend

Tearful hunter admits shooting and killing friend

11 Jul 05:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP