Four boats are being used to shut off the fresh oil leak from the stricken container vessel Rena.
A Maritime New Zealand flight over the ship this morning observed a new fuel spill, believed to be between five and ten tonnes, which is believed to be heading off shore.
MNZ says the oil is not expected to hit any coastline before Wednesday. MNZ continues to monitor the situation.
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The recovery teams are using booms to contain the oil in order to be skimmed off the water.
"These booms are capable of functioning in strong currents and with the calm water out there today, the conditions are good for on-water recovery of the oil," National On Scene Commander Alex van Wijngaarden said.
He adds that even in good conditions, it won't be possible to recover all the oil.
The oil escaped overnight and possibly from Rena's duct keel - the tunnel running the length of the ship, which houses pipes and other servicing equipment.
"This overnight spillage is a combination of tidal movement - seawater effectively plugs gaps in the duct keel but low tide exposes those gaps - and the reducing buoyancy of the vessel as we remove oil from above the waterline," Wijngaarden said.
The ship has been grounded on the Astrolabe reef off the coast of Tauranga for more than a fortnight, spilling more than 350 tonnes of oil and 88 containers into the sea.
Maritime's salvage unit manager Bruce Anderson this afternoon said that 337 tonnes of oil has been pumped from the vessel so far, from a tank that originally held 772 tonnes.
Options are being explored for speeding up removal of oil from
the main tank, and it is hoped that another pump will be brought in
to remove oil from the two settling tanks, which have about 220
tonnes of oil between them.
Swimming ban eased
Meanwhile, Maritime New Zealand has relaxed its swimming ban on the stretch of Mt Maunganui beach that has been opened, from the base track through to Tay Street.
"We've now had 12 days without any significant release of oil from Rena," MNZ National On Scene Commander Alex van Wijngaarden said.
Several hundred people continue to clean the beaches today. They are based between Mount Maunganui through to Waihau Bay.
"We are continuing to clean and re-clean the open stretch of beach and we are confident the amounts of residual oil in the water are low," Wijngaarden said.
He said there is still a chance swimmers will come into contact with oil, and is advising caution for those entering the water.
"Although the residual oil is a lot less toxic than fresh oil, people should still avoid it," he said.
"If in doubt, use your common sense."
Clean up operations continued yesterday at five main points along about 30km of the Bay of Plenty coastline, with the remotest at Waihau Bay, about 200km from Tauranga.
Businesses in Tauranga are pleased with the progress and are hoping they will enjoy a normal summer after all.
Mount Main Street Manager Leanne Brown says with a busking festival this weekend the town is buzzing, and cafes and bars are full.
She says it is possible people have been spending more time in the town because they could not swim at the beach, which is a great spin-off for businesses.
- with Newstalk ZB
