Whangamatā spill: Stricken vessel salvaged from harbour

The commercial longliner in the Whangamatā Harbour. Photo / Supplied

A stricken vessel that was leaking diesel into the Whangamatā Harbour has been salvaged.

The Waikato Regional Council received reports around 8am on Monday of a commercial longliner taking on water in the Whangamatā Harbour.

However, bad weather meant teams were unable to salvage the vessel immediately.

It remained secured to its mooring on Monday with approximately 500 litres of diesel fuel onboard, which was thought to be leaking into the water.

A salvage operation began yesterday morning and the longliner was righted about 5pm then rafted to the harbourmaster's vessel and taken to the marina.

It was lifted out of the water last night and will be undergoing checks for damage.

Upon inspection, it appeared little if any diesel leaked from the vessel, which meant there would be little to no ecological impacts from the incident, regional on-scene commander Derek Hartley said.