Fourteen people have been rescued from a boat that reportedly begantaking on water off the coast of Tauranga, police say.

A police spokesman said about 1.30pm today police were alerted to a boat taking on water east of Mōtītī Island.

“Fourteen people on board are all accounted for and back on dry land, but it appears police were not required.”

Coastguard NZ was the lead agency responding to the incident, the police spokesman said.

A Tauranga Coastguard spokesman said the organisation’s TECT Rescue boat was stood down, and he was unable to make further comment.

NZME is awaiting further comment from Coastguard NZ.

The sparsely populated Mōtītī Island is located 21km north-east of Tauranga.

More to come.

Sandra Conchie is a senior journalist who has been a journalist for 24 years. She mainly covers police, court and other justice stories, as well as general news. She has been a Canon Media Awards regional/community reporter of the year.