A fourth ship from Japan has been been ordered to leave New Zealand because it has the brown marmorated stink bug on board.
The brown marmorated stink bug. Photo: Wikicommons
The crew of the Glovis Caravel reported finding 600 stink bugs while the ship was anchored near Auckland.
The stink bugs have been found in three other ships in the past couple of months.
Ministry for Primary Industries said the risk was too high for it to remain in New Zealand waters, and it had to be treated offshore before it would be allowed back.
The pest could devastate New Zealand's fruit, vegetable and wine industries, destroying more than $4 billion of export value, according to a new report from the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research.