Banned Ship Now Held In New Zealand

The Vega Auriga, recently banned from Australian ports, has now been detained in New Zealand and is not allowed to leave the Port of Tauranga until 11 problems have been fixed.

Maritime New Zealand boarded the vessel and spokeswoman Sarah Brazil said a five hour inspection was undertaken which revealed 14 deficiencies, 11 of which must be fixed before leaving port.

The problems related to maintenance, seaworthiness and crew rest periods. The necessary repairs were expected to take about 24 hours.

The Vega Auriga was banned from Australian ports for three months on Wednesday. It had been detained three times in Australian ports since July last year and was declared unseaworthy by Australian Maritime Safety Authority manager Allan Schwartz.

Local media reports that New Zealand independent member of parliament Brendan Horan called the Vega Auriga a ticking time bomb that posed as great a risk as the Rena did when it sailed from Napier and ran aground on the Astrolabe Reef.