By 3 News online staff / NZN
All 43 crew members of a burning fishing boat off the Canterbury coast have abandoned ship and been transferred to two other fishing vessels.
The 64-metre trawler, the Amaltal Columbia, with 43 people on board, alerted the Rescue Coordination Centre to a fire in its hold at 5:24am. The alert was upgraded to a mayday call at 6:20am.
Shortly after 8am, a Maritime NZ spokesman confirmed to NZ Newswire that the crew was abandoning the ship, following an order issued by the ship's master.
The fire had reached the engine, leaving the vessel unable to be controlled.
Initially, 39 crew members were transferred to a Russian fishing vessel which responded to the mayday call. The name of the rescuing ship is not known at this stage.
The remaining four crew members were transferred to another vessel which arrived at the scene later. It is believed this was the San Discovery.
All the crew members are being taken to Lyttelton. No injuries have been reported.
Search and Rescue Mission Coordinator Tracy Brickles said the safe transfer of crew off the vessel was an excellent result.
"The priority in these situations is always the safety of the crew. This is a good result in difficult conditions with winds of 30 knots and a swell of four metres."
Earlier, the crew battled the fire, which started in the fish meal hold, and sealed it off in an effort to starve it of oxygen.
The Talley's-owned factory freezer trawler is about 85km northeast of Lyttelton Heads.
The Transport Accident Investigation Commission has launched an inquiry into the fire.
The Talley's website describes the Amaltal Columbia as the flagship of its deep-sea trawling fleet, with world-leading fishing technology.
In 2005, it was grounded in Bluff. It was helped off the mud by pilot vessel the Awarua. A subsequent report by Maritime NZ blamed the pilot for failing to ensure it berthed safely.
The ship has capabilities to process all waste products for recycling or non-polluting disposal and its boilers are able to run on waste fish oil.
Comment is expected from Talley's later on Wednesday.
Images taken from the Air Force's Orion aircraft:
3 News / NZN