Two tug boats in Tasmania's north have sunk after a collision with a commercial vessel just before midday, TasPorts says.
The collision between commercial cement carrier Goliath and two berthed and stationary TasPorts tugs, Campbell Cove and York Cove, took place at 11:50am at the Port of Devonport.
No crew members were on board the tugs, and no-one has been injured.
Both TasPorts tugs are currently submerged alongside the wharf at Berth 4 West and are located on the seabed," TasPorts said.
"Both vessels remain secured to the wharf and TasPorts is continuing to monitor status."
TasPorts has notified the Environment Protection Authority and deployed oil spill response equipment around both tugs.
"The immediate priority is containment of any oil spill," it said in a statement.
An exclusion zone has been established around the identified wharf area and the EPA is controlling the spill.
"The EPA is working with TasPorts and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania to identify impacted industries and wildlife and protect and minimise damage," it said in a statement.
"We thank the community for their support: however, we will not be requesting on-ground volunteer support from the general public at this time due to safety requirements around this response."
EPA director Wes Ford said it was too early to know how significant the environmental impacts would be, but said there were concerns for local wildlife.
"Our primary concern from an environmental point of view in the Mersey area is that there are sensitive wetlands and marshy areas in the catchment and in the upper part of the estuary, and if oil gets into those areas or diesel gets into those areas, it can impact on the life," he said.
"It might impact on fish habitat, it might impact on areas that shorebirds utilise.
"The other part of the estuary is also a fish nursery area, and there's a concern that that could be impacted by the hydrocarbons.
The EPA says the recovery of the two vessels will not begin for several days.
Mr Ford said TasPorts would engage a salvage company to look at the integrity of the submerged vessels.
“The vessels at some point will need to be refloated and removed away from the wharf, but that's not going to occur over this weekend," he said.
