Pacific

Cooks boat left island without required six tonnes of fuel

12:45 pm on 8 September 2005

A cargo ship which ran out of fuel in the Cook Islands has arrived in Rarotonga.

The Manu Nui had left Pukapuka and was on its way to Palmerston when it ran out of fuel, and drifted.

It later met another ship for refuelling, and then off-loaded its cargo at Palmerston.

A staff member at the company which owns the boat, Taio Shipping, says the captain didn't realise he had left Pukapuka short of six tonnes of fuel.

The staff member says engineers failed to check the level of remaining fuel.