A diesel line that began to leak into Lake Te Anau during the weekend may have been damaged deliberately, a firefighter says.

Graeme Moffat, of Te Anau fire station, said the Real Journeys diesel line, at the Te Anau Downs jetty in Fiordland National Park, appeared to have been cut on purpose.

Emergency services were called to the jetty about 7.45pm on Saturday. "It looks like it's been a bit of sabotage, to be honest . . . it was just the way it had been attacked on the line, it's a join between two pontoons and it looks like somebody's attacked it with a knife," Mr Moffat said. Dispersants were used on the water.

However, Constable Glen Matheson, of Te Anau, said police were waiting for a report from fuel experts to determine the cause.

"It's undetermined at this stage but there's a bit of movement in the pipe, which indicates there's a bit of wear and tear," he said.

When asked if police had ruled out the possibility of the line being damaged deliberately, Mr Matheson said they were keeping an open mind.

Real Journeys Te Anau area manager Neil Collinson did not believe the line had been cut deliberately. He said it did not appear much diesel had spilled.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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