Twelve fire engines are trying to put out a ship fire in Lyttelton Harbour, near Christchurch.
Fire Service communications centre shift manager Kal Patterson said the fire on a 60m ship in the port's dry dock started about 5.40pm on Wednesday.
"We've got 12 fire engines and a ladder trying to deal with it," he told NZ Newswire.
Mr Patterson said it was unclear how the fire started, and that nobody appeared to be injured.
He said firefighters wanted people to stay away from the area so they could concentrate on fighting the fire.
NZN