Firefighters continue work to extinguish ship blaze at Timaru Port

A team of at least 20 firefighters are continuing their efforts to extinguish a fire in Timaru's harbour.

Five fire crews are still at the scene of the blaze, which broke out about 9pm last night.

Two tug boats with firefighters on board have been rotating to cool the sides of the ship.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand’s assistant area commander Mike Bowden says the fire is contained and has not spread further into the ship, but it is still not fully extinguished.

He says firefighters have had to be careful with the amount of water they use on the blaze to avoid the boat sinking or losing stability, and so they have started work to remove some of the water.

"It has been a lot of work for both our paid and volunteer firefighters and we are doing everything possible to extinguish the blaze and keep everyone safe," he says.

"But it could take some time."

He says it is too early to determine what caused the blaze.

Fire and Emergency has been working with several other agencies at the scene, including Environment Canterbury.

ENDS

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