New tanker MT Kokako shipping fuel from Marsden Pt Oil Refinery to New Zealand ports

The new oil tanker MT Kokako that has started to ship petroleum products from Marsden Pt Oil Refinery to ports around the country. Photo / Mike Swords

A brand new oil tanker specifically designed for working around New Zealand has started work taking fuel products from the Marsden Pt Oil Refinery to ports around the country.

The MT Kokako started shipping petroleum products from the Refining NZ plant to ports around the New Zealand last month.

The arrival of the vessel, specifically designed for New Zealand requirements including a focus on emissions reduction and efficiency, completes the recent renewal of Coastal Oil Logistics Limited's (COLL) time-chartered tanker fleet. The company has already taken into charter another new vessel, the MT Matuku, in mid 2016.

The ASP Ship Management Group, as vessel owner, charters the Kokako and Matuku to COLL via its Wellington based manager, Silver Fern Shipping Limited. COLL transports petroleum products on behalf of its shareholders BP Oil New Zealand Limited, Mobil Oil New Zealand Limited and Z Energy Limited.

The Kokako is a 49,000 deadweight tonne, double-hull eco-designed medium-range products tanker. The vessel was constructed by Hyundai Mipo Dockyard in Ulsan, South Korea.

It has been designed to meet New Zealand's coastal trading conditions. In keeping with Silver Fern Shipping tradition, the Kokako is named after a native New Zealand bird.

The Kokako replaces the Kakariki, which has been in service on the New Zealand coast since 1999. In that time, the Kakariki made more than 750 voyages from Marsden Pt, delivering more than 22.6 billion litres of petroleum products to New Zealand's ports.

The Kakariki left New Zealand in January and will be sold.