New Zealand said today its maritime safety officials are trying to contact a fleet of vessels from the United States fishing in the area where the Russian space station Miris expected to splash down.
Prime Minister Ms Helen Clark said the expected flight path of the 15-year-old station has been shifted slightly and is now a little closer to New Zealand than previously stated.
The 130 tonnes of red-hot space junk were expected to pass about 1,250 km to the north-east of New Zealand before plunging into the South Pacific ocean around 3,600 km east of the southern tip of Stewart Island.
Stewart Island is New Zealand's third largest island.
"We are particularly concerned about the need to get this advice to a large fleet of American fishing vessels which have moved into the area," Ms Clark said in a statement.
An official of the New Zealand Maritime Safety Authority said the warning was based on media reports that tuna fishing vessels from American Samoa may be in the area.
More targeted warnings would be broadcast as splashdown neared at around 06.00 GMT on Friday.