Freight ship MV Achilles Bulker back in the Port of Tauranga after losing rudder, being unloaded

Achilles Bulker when it was anchored off the coast in Mount Maunganui. Photo / Alex Cairns

A freight ship that lost its rudder has been towed back to Tauranga to be offloaded.

Maritime NZ has confirmed the exclusion zone around where it was anchored off the coast of Mount Maunganui had now been lifted.

The ship now needs to wait in the Port of Tauranga to be towed to a foreign country.

Two weeks ago Maritime NZ issued a detention notice against the log-carrying vessel MV Achilles Bulker, which had encountered steering problems when it left Tauranga bound for China on July 24.

It was later found the rudder had disconnected from the Panamanian-flagged ship during the outbound pilotage, Maritime NZ said in a statement.

The vessel was anchored 6.5km off Mount Maunganui and the rudder was recovered by divers and brought back to shore.

The detention notice meant the ship couldn’t leave Tauranga before certain conditions were met. These conditions related to the towage arrangements for the vessel to be towed to a foreign port for dry docking, where the ship will be repaired, a Maritime New Zealand spokesman said.

The notice doesn’t involve penalties, provided it’s complied with.

The ship was towed back into the Port of Tauranga on Tuesday where the cargo would be unloaded before being towed to a foreign port.

Maritime NZ previously said it was working closely with the Bay of Plenty Regional Council and the Port of Tauranga on the arrangements to bring the vessel back into Tauranga.

The spokesman said the ship would remain in port until the towage arrangements are confirmed, approved by the relevant parties and the Notice of Detention has been complied with.

The owners were responsible for the towage arrangement, maintenance and repairs.

“Maritime New Zealand is investigating the circumstances and conditions that may have led to the ship’s rudder detaching. No further comment will be made while the investigation is ongoing.”

A Port of Tauranga spokeswoman said: “It doesn’t cause any shipping delays but it does tie up a berth, so we are hopeful it won’t be very long”.

Bay of Plenty Harbourmaster Jon Jon Peters said the vessel was brought in for safety reasons and so part, or all, of the cargo could be removed.

He directed further questions to Maritime NZ who were investigating the incident.