A fire on board the bulk carrier Lucy Oldendorff anchored off the Port of Tauranga has now been extinguished.

Firefighters were called to investigate the fire on the 180metre ship at 7am today after crew spotted smoke coming from part of the cargo of palm kernel.

A Northern Communications spokesperson says firefighters found signs of fire in the ship's number one hold and are investigating further.

The 180m bulk carrier Lucy Oldendorff is anchored off the coast of Tauranga.

He says there was a fire in the hold four days ago which was extinguished with CO2.

Tauranga firefighters were requested to investigate by port authorities and boarded the ship equipped with an infra-red camera and gas detector.

'We're just checking it out,” says deputy chief fire officer Graeme Easton.

'I wouldn't say suspected fire, but we are just taking precautions at this stage.

'There's one crew out there, carrying equipment to check the temperatures, that's all.

It is believed the cargo of palm kernel was recently fumigated.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council harbourmaster is working with the fire service and other agencies to monitor the situation.

Lucy Oldendorff is 180m LOA, Liberian flagged ship. Her last port was Pasir Gudang in Malaysia.

It is due in port this afternoon.