A stevedore sustained serious injuries when he fell 8m while working on the log ship Pakhoi, alongside the Mount Maunganui wharf on Tuesday night.

Maritime NZ stopped all work on the vessel pending an investigation.

A Facebook message states the stevedoring company ISO has issued a safety directive with immediate effect – that all stevedoring operations nationwide are to cease climbing of stanchions until further notice.

ISO is not making comment to the media.

SunLive understands his current situation is serious but stable and he underwent surgery yesterday.

The stanchions on a log ship are the deck side steel poles that prevent the deck cargo logs from rolling off the ship.

The Port of Tauranga shipping schedule has the Pakhoi scheduled to put to sea at 9.30pm tonight.

Maritime NZ spokesman Mark Dittmer says today the Maritime NZ scene examination is completed and the vessel is not detained

The Pakhoi is a Hong Kong registered bulk carrier of 27,785 gross registered tonnes, 179.9m length overall.