An Insect larvae found in the cargo of the bulker carrying palm kernel into the Port of Timaru, caught the attention of biosecurity officers over the weekend.
Some insect larvae, on a single hatch from one of the ships holds, was discovered by MPI officers. The Ship arrived at Timaru on Saturday from Pasir Gudang, Malaysia and was enroute to Tauranga on Monday.
After decontamination the vessel was permitted to unload product in Timaru from holds.
“MPI did not order the vessel to leave the port. Instead, the importer was provided with a number of options to mitigate any biosecurity risk from the hold with the contaminated hatch, including undergoing treatment, destroying the cargo or reshipment,” MPi spokesman said.
The receiver of the cargo chose the treatment option which is due to take place at (or on the water before) the vessel’s next port of arrival.
Source: Stuff
