Weighing 10,000 tonnes and almost 150m tall, the platform was shipped into New Zealand waters today on board the world's largest heavy transport vessel, the Blue Marlin.

The vessel will anchor in the calm waters of Admiralty Bay in the northeast South Island while the platform is unloaded over the next few days. The platform will then be towed to the Maari Field in offshore Taranaki, some 80km off the coast of South Taranaki, OMV managing director Steve Hounsell said.

"We are now very much focused on the next stage of the project - getting the platform ready for towage to Taranaki," he said.

"The trip, and the subsequent installation of the platform, is very weather-dependent, and not without its technical challenges."

The platform provides a working deck for both the drilling of the development wells and for their ongoing maintenance and monitoring.

Unlike conventional designs, the Maari platform is a single, completely pre-fabricated structure that can install itself once it arrives at its final location. OMV New Zealand, the operator of the Maari Project, said it was delighted the platform had arrived safely.

Once the platform is installed, the next task will be to drill a total of 8 development wells, and to connect a floating production, storage and offtake vessel to the platform.

The FPSO will separate the oil from any gas and water from the production wells, and provide temporary storage for the oil until tankers arrive to take it away for refining. The Maari FPSO, named "Raroa", is currently on the way from Singapore with expected arrival in New Zealand towards the end of this month.

The Maari oilfield has estimated reserves of about 50 million barrels of oil and a life of some 10 to 15 years. The Mining Permit granted in 2005 is for a 22 year period to cover any upside potential of the Field and the adjacent areas. First production is expected in the third quarter of this year.

The field's plateau production rate will be around 35,000 barrels per day. Once production starts, OMV will be the biggest producer of oil and natural gas liquids in New Zealand.

The Maari partners are OMV New Zealand (operator and 69%), Todd Energy 16%, Horizon Oil 10% and Cue Energy Resources 5%.