A chemical leak at Napier port has now been contained and clean-up is almost complete.
The New Zealand fire service located the damaged drum which was leaking a potentially inflammable solvent, Methyl Ethyl Ketone, this afternoon.
The call-out came at 10am when the substance was found to be leaking by a port worker.
After an initial assessment the alarm state was stepped up, with one firefighter describing the situation as "quite serious" given the flammable nature of the leaking chemical.
By noon there were four appliances from Napier and the hazardous substances unit were on site, along with three appliances from Hastings as well as the mobile command unit.