A kitten. It's not your everyday discovery on an oil rig. But this three-month old feline was discovered on the Taranaki oil rig off the coast of New Zealand.

Maui the clandestine feline had been hiding in a container until she was discovered.

A kitten on an oil rig

Maui received the same name as that of the platform she was found on. The three-month old kitten quickly gained the hearts of the rig's employees, who believe she must have been searching for food, explaining why she hid on board. How she got there they'll never exactly know!

The president of Shell in New Zealand, Rob Jager, said Maui had probably climbed into a container while it was being loaded, and was only discovered when the platform was already 50km from the coast.

The workers fed Maui with sardines and milk, making her extremely happy.

Not only did she have herself a unique but wonderfully loving temporary home, Maui even managed to score herself a forever home out of her ordeal!

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Maui's helicopter ride

After several nights on the platform, a helicopter was summoned to retrieve little Maui and take her back to solid ground for a vet check-up.

It was love at first sight when the wife of one of the team came to pick her up.


The three-month old was taken by her new parent to a vet clinic in New Plymouth, and once there she was identified, washed and de-wormed.

After the detour, Maui was finally ready to move into her new home.

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Not the first cat stowaway

A similar story occurred in 2001 when a cat called Colin was found on a boat transporting petrol.

He belonged to one of the workers at the Taranaki port. The pet had fallen asleep on the petrol liner that then raised anchor for international waters.

Colin was returned home by plane and Peter Tennet, the mayor of New Plymouth named him ambassador!

What do you think of Maui's story?

Source : stuff.co.nz

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