A fishing company facing charges for dumping oil in New Zealand waters says it is conducting its own internal investigation into what happened.
Maritime New Zealand is laying three charges against Sanford Limited after its investigation involving the Korean foreign charter fishing vessel Pacinui.
Sanford Limited says the charges are based on claims made by some of the vessel's Indonesian crew members.
Chief executive Eric Barratt says the allegations relate to a failure to adequately use a piece of equipment that separates water from oily waste.
He says the volume of oil that goes through the machine isn't great and it's not in the company's economic interest to spill oil.
Mr Barratt says Sanford's investigation will take at least a month.
