Kia ora Nigel
We are emailing to seek clarification, and potentially refinement, of Part
5 of your request (25-OIAD-00029).
The Ministry has conducted a targeted search of our email archive and
identified several thousand emails since 2020 about the development of
regulations to meet Annex VI of the International Convention for the
Prevention of Pollution from Ships, which we consider may be in scope of
Part 5 of your request. You can read about this work at:
[1]https://www.maritimenz.govt.nz/commercia....
The Ministry considers that to individually read, assess, and prepare this
number of emails for release would unreasonably interfere with the
operations of the department. As such, we may need to decline Part 5 of
your request under section 18(f) of the Act as the information requested
cannot be made available without substantial collation or research.
However, we would first like to clarify Part 5 of your request. Can you
please clarify if you are seeking correspondence about:

* where individual maritime vessels have been observed to be creating
ship emissions, plumes, or cloud formation, or
*  the broader topic of atmospheric pollution from maritime vessels, not
tied to specific vessels or events?

If you intend the second, then we also invite you to refine your request
as this interpretation would require the Ministry to process several
thousand emails as mentioned above. Our recommendation is to limit your
request to emails with selected keywords or keyphrases.
Can you please also clarify if you would like to include or exclude
administrative correspondence for the scope of Part 5 of your request?
Please advise on the above by 5pm 10 December.
Ngâ mihi

Ministerial Services Team 

Ministry for the Environment – Manatû Mô Te Taiao

Email: [2][MFE request email] Website: [3]www.mfe.govt.nz 

8 Willis Street, Wellington Central, Wellington 6011

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From: Nigel Gray <[FOI #33021 email]>
Sent: Thursday, November 27, 2025 7:49 AM
To: OIA <[MFE request email]>
Subject: Official Information request - Monitoring of Ship
Emissions/Plumes
 
MFE CYBER SECURITY WARNING
This email originated from outside our organisation. Please take extra
care when clicking on any links or opening any attachments.

Dear Ministry for the Environment,
Dear Ministry for the Environment,

This is a request under the Official Information Act 1982.

I have geo-located a vessel producing significant visible plumes over New
Zealand, with coverage large enough to potentially influence local
weather. To clarify the scope of my request, I seek information on
monitoring responsibilities in both New Zealand’s territorial waters
(within 12 nautical miles) and the Exclusive Economic Zone (12–200
nautical miles).

Specifically, I request:

1. Any monitoring systems, datasets, or responsibilities the Ministry (or
other agencies) has regarding ships entering New Zealand’s territorial
waters (within 12 nautical miles) that produce atmospheric emissions,
plumes, or cloud formation.
2. Any monitoring systems, datasets, or responsibilities the Ministry (or
other agencies) has regarding ships operating in New Zealand’s Exclusive
Economic Zone (12–200 nautical miles) that produce atmospheric emissions,
plumes, or cloud formation.
3. Any reports, datasets, or records held by the Ministry relating to ship
emissions or plumes observed in either zone.
4. Any legislation, regulations, or policy documents that assign
responsibility for monitoring or oversight of ships producing atmospheric
emissions or cloud coverage in either zone.
5. Any correspondence between the Ministry and other agencies (e.g. EPA,
Maritime NZ, NIWA) relating to ship emissions, plumes, or cloud formation
in either zone.

If any of the above categories of information are not held, please confirm
this explicitly under section 18(e) of the Act. If information is
withheld, please specify the precise section of the Act relied upon, as
required under section 19.

Yours sincerely, 
Nigel

Yours faithfully,

Nigel Gray

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This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.

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[FOI #33021 email]

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References

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