A boat carrying 200 litres of oil has sunk near Whitianga.
The Waikato Regional Council says it is monitoring the 36-foot (11-metre) launch which is thought to have hit rocks and sunk on Friday night in Humbug Bay near Whitianga on the Coromandel Peninsula.
The Whitianga Volunteer Coastguard says the boat hit a rock off Devils Point and began taking on water.
"The Units Incident management team maintained communication with the vessels crew via a cell phone," the coastguard says.
"A decision was made to attempt to ground the vessel in Humbug Bay. Unfortunately the call had to be made to abandon ship. All four crew made it safely to a Rock in the Bay where they were rescued by the crew of NZCTRESCUE."
None of the crew were injured.
The vessel is carrying about 200 litres of marine diesel oil. However, maritime officers have been onsite on Saturday morning and there is no evidence of discharge.
Swells of up to four metres are expected in the afternoon which may push the boat up onto the rocks.
Salvors are preparing to recover the vessel as soon as possible, but it is weather dependent.
