The Taranaki Daily News today reported that the Sydney-headquartered company admitted, in the New Plymouth District Court yesterday, the accidental discharge of about 23,000 litres of the contaminated water from the Tui floating production storage and offtake vessel, Umuroa, on October 21.
The Umuroa owner-operator, Norway's Prosafe Production, which still faces one charge of breaching the act, is also expected to plead guilty, paving the way for both companies to be sentenced on August 13.
The companies each face a maximum fine of up to $NZ200,000 ($A160,000) and could be ordered to meet any clean-up costs not already met.
Maritime New Zealand laid charges against the companies in May this year, following the discovery of tar balls and contaminated sand along a 10km stretch of coastline about 60km from the Tui project a few days after the FPSO incident.
