A Transport Accident Investigation Commission investigator will tomorrow begin examining a Talley's fishing boat that caught fire off the Canterbury coast today, forcing the 43 crew to abandon ship.
The New Zealand-flagged Amaltal Columbia is being towed to Lyttelton and is expected in port about midnight.
One TAIC inspector would begin the examination tomorrow once the boat was made safe and another investigator would interview company officials and the crew, the commission said.
The crew, who were picked up by nearby vessels after the fire broke out in the meal hold of the 64-metre trawler this morning, arrived in Lyttelton this afternoon.
The Rescue Coordination Centre said it received an urgency call from the vessel at 5.24am alerting them to the fire. It was upgraded to a mayday call about 5.40am.
