Stink bug-affected vehicle carrier Carmen has begun releasing vehicles after the Ministry for Primary Industries signed off an approved discharge plan.
The Wallenius Wilhelmsen ship returned to New Zealand before Christmas, after being ordered to leave New Zealand waters in November following the discovery of live stink bugs.
“The controlled approach involves the use of a range of verification approaches to ensure vehicles are not contaminated, including heat treatment, checks by detector dog, use of agitation spray (insecticide) and intensive inspection by officers,” a MPI spokesman told AutoTalk.
A sample of the discharged vehicles will be heat treated, the spokesman says.
The Carmen underwent multiple fogging applications with insecticide prior to arriving back in New Zealand.
“We don’t have a timeframe for completion at this stage,” the MPI spokesman says.
Meanwhile, live and dead stink bugs were discovered on The Morning Lynn, also operated by Wallenius Wilhelmsen, on January 4.
“The Morning Lynn was permitted to carry out a partial discharge from areas where there was no indication of stink bug,” the MPI spokesman says.
“Partial discharge can be permitted (on a case-by-case basis) if parts of a vessel are determined to be free of stink bug and are sufficiently segregated from contaminated areas.”
