Vessel fire extinguished

A fire on board a tug in the Hauraki Gulf this morning has been extinguished and the vessel is now making its way back to Auckland.

The 20 metre tug Koraki was towing an empty barge and was en route from Auckland to Whangarei when a fire was detected in her engine room at about 3.30am. She was around 11 nautical miles west of Little Barrier Island.

The crew were unable to access the blaze and broadcast a Mayday call that was received by the Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ).

The crew then abandoned the tug into two liferafts, with RCCNZ tasking one Coastguard vessel from Kawau Island and another from Whangarei to respond.

The Auckland Westpac rescue helicopter was also sent to assist.

Coastguard boats arrived at the scene within 20 minutes, with the crew of the Koraki advised not to return to the vessel until it was safe.

RCCNZ also requested HMNZS Rotoiti to assist, as she was in the area and has specialist fire-fighting equipment on board. The Rotoiti arrived on scene about 6.30am.

A Navy fire fighting team boarded the tug shortly after and bought the fire under control.

The fire has now been extinguished and the Koraki's crew are back on board. One of the vessel’s engines has been restarted and the vessel is heading back to Auckland.

The helicopter and Navy and Coastguard vessels have been stood down.

MNZ accident investigators are making inquiries into the incident.

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