By Annabelle Tukia
The tricky operation of getting the Amaltal Columbia and its hundreds of thousands of litres of fuel to a safe haven is now underway.
After spending the day listing off the Canterbury coast, the ship is now under tow and travelling at four knots on its way back to Lyttleton.
It wasn’t the first time Hazlett and Talley's have had to respond to a mayday call - but the last time they were on the other end of the rescue. The Columbia's sister ship the Atlantis was involved in a rescue in the Southern Ocean just over two years ago when 45 crew off the Oyang 70 had to be plucked from the ocean.
The Columbia employs around 60 crew members and it is hoped they will be working again soon.
“The reality is we'll be able to deploy a lot of those people on other vessels and we are hoping that we'll have the Columbia back fishing shortly,” says Talley’s Nelson chief executive Tony Hazlett.
The ship could be back in port as early as midnight if authorities think it's safe, and with memories fresh of the Rena oil spill, getting the vessel safely into Lyttelton is critical.
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