JEREMY WILKINSON <\/p>\n
Last updated16:44, February 28 2017 <\/p>\n
ANDY JACKSON\/Stuff.co.nz <\/p>\n
Veterinarian Gemma Kinross says Maui the kitten had a \"full belly\" but was \"very dirty\" after being found on an off shore oil rig. <\/p>\n
A kitten that stowed away on a container ship toan offshore oil and gasrig had to be specially flown off by helicopter. <\/p>\n
Named Maui- after the gasfield off the coast of Taranaki she was found on- the three-month old kitten won over workers at the site, and has even been adopted by one. <\/p>\n
Maui was flown first-class by helicopter off the field once she was discovered, but not before she was spoilt with sardines and milk by the Maui team. <\/p>\n
ANDY JACKSON\/Fairfax NZ <\/p>\n
Shona Salisbury from St Aubyn Veterinary Clinic spends some time with stow away kitten, Maui. <\/p>\n
Shell New Zealand chairman Rob Jager said it was likely she'd climbed into a shipping container while it was being loaded, and wasn't discovered until she was at the platform roughly 50kilometres off thecoast. <\/p>\n
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\"It's unusual to have a small animal or bird found offshore but it has happened before,\" he said. <\/p>\n
ANDY JACKSON\/Fairfax NZ <\/p>\n
Maui came in a bit dirty and shy but is pretty much back up to full health. <\/p>\n
\"Now one of the guys from the Maui team is taking her home. He looked after her when she was offshore and has convinced his wife they should keep her. <\/p>\n
\"Unless someone claims her.\" <\/p>\n
Animals aren't allowed on the platform and fortunately Maui didn't cause any damage duringher short stay. <\/p>\n
STOS <\/p>\n
Rebekah Smith, platform medic, at Maui B with Maui the kitten. <\/p>\n
Workers managed to lure her into a cage borrowed from a local vet with a rasher of bacon, then loaded her onto a specially-requested helicopter. <\/p>\n
She's now staying at St Aubyn Vet Clinic in New Plymouth until her new family takes her home. <\/p>\n
Vet Gemma Kinross said she got a call from one of her clients asking to borrow a cage to take to the Maui B platform. <\/p>\n
Stuff <\/p>\n
Maui the kitten's journey from New Plymouth to the Maui B gasfield roughly 49 kilometres off the coast. <\/p>\n
\"It was all a bit confusing, I just thought they meant the port,\" she said. <\/p>\n
\"But then they said it needed to be pretty fast because there was a helicopter waiting.\" <\/p>\n
Aside from coming in a bit shy, dirty and slightly traumatised from her helicopter ride, Maui was healthy even after a few nights at the platform. <\/p>\n
\"We have no idea what her start in life was like, we checked for a microchip straight away,\" Kinross said. <\/p>\n
\"It seems like everyone loved her, someone rang today saying they would have her as soon as she could leave.\" <\/p>\n
Kinross suspected Maui was seeking food when she got into the container andit looked like she had stowed away to the right place, coming back with a full belly from the crew's attentions. <\/p>\n
Maui isn't the first cat to stowaway on and oil and gas ship. In 2001 a cat called Colin's stowed away on the methanol tanker Tomiwaka from New Plymouth to South Korea. <\/p>\n
Colin'sbelonged to one of the tanker terminal workers at Port Taranaki, but after falling asleep on board the Tomiwaka she set sail for international waters. <\/p>\n
On her arrival back home by air New Plymouth's mayor Peter Tennent named her an honourary ambassador of the district. Sadly she passed away in 2007. <\/p>\n
-Stuff <\/p>\n
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Read more: <\/p>\n
Kitten stowaway gets first-class treatment on offshore Taranaki gasfield rig - Stuff.co.nz<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" JEREMY WILKINSON Last updated16:44, February 28 2017 ANDY JACKSON\/Stuff.co.nz Veterinarian Gemma Kinross says Maui the kitten had a \"full belly\" but was \"very dirty\" after being found on an off shore oil rig. A kitten that stowed away on a container ship toan offshore oil and gasrig had to be specially flown off by helicopter. Named Maui- after the gasfield off the coast of Taranaki she was found on- the three-month old kitten won over workers at the site, and has even been adopted by one Continue reading