TEL +64 4 473 0111
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Level 11,1 Grey Street, PO Box 25620, Wellington 6140
New Zealand
2 March 2020
Brent Yardley
Our ref: F27859
[FYI request #12236 email]
By email
Dear Brent
Official Information Act request – notification of gas leak incidents
I refer to your official information request dated 14 February 2020, asking whether gas leaks
at Port Marlborough in 2018 and 2020 were notified to Maritime NZ.
It does not appear that Maritime NZ was notified regarding the incident in 2018. As this
incident occurred on land rather than on a vessel, the jurisdiction for managing the response
would generally reside with Port Marlborough and WorkSafe NZ rather than Maritime NZ.
This being the case, there would have been no requirement under the Maritime Transport Act
for Maritime NZ to be notified.
With regard to the incident in January this year, Maritime NZ only became aware of it once
the train had disembarked the vessel and it was in the railyard. By this time, the incident was
being handled by other agencies such as Fire and Emergency and Police. Once the source of
the leak was rectified, the site was handed over to NZ Transport Authority’s Safer Rail Team
and WorkSafe NZ, with assistance from Maritime NZ.
If you wish to discuss this decision with us, please feel free to email me or contact me on
freephone 0508 225 522.
Yours sincerely
Anna Dwen
Advisor, Ministerial Services