Cement carrier Goliath crashed into two tugboats at noon, both of which later sunk. The crash resulted in the tugboats leaking diesel into the water, with TasPorts estimating the boats contained 60,000 litres of fuel between them.

On Saturday, the Environmental Protection Authority warned the public to avoid all contact with water in the Mersey River.

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TasPorts chief operating officer Stephen Casey said work to contain the oil spill begun immediately following the incident.

"Our absolute priority remains the oil spill response, alongside the EPA as the leading agency," he said.

"As we move further through planning and assessments in preparation for salvage and recovery, we will better understand the timing for investigations."

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Mr Casey also praised the quick response time of crews from around the state since the crash on Friday afternoon.

"TasPorts teams from sites across the state have been working tirelessly on the ground since the incident occurred to actively manage and respond to the incident," he said. "We are anticipating this response will continue for days and weeks to come, so alongside our immediate priorities, we are also working to ensure the long-term sustainability of our operations at the site."

Fisherman Craig Garland was concerned about the impact of the oil spill on wildlife near the Mersey River.

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"The marine life will be impacted because it'll be on the shore," he said.

"Also, the penguins around the area will be affected.

"We'll just have to wait and see, but I'm very worried about anything that's killed or affected ending up on the shoreline."

Forth fisherman Kelly "Hooch" Hunt said he hoped the oil spill would not impact the water quality of the Mersey River in the long term.

"The water quality has been absolutely superb for years on the back of heavy industry being told to pull their socks up," he said.

"Luckily this spill has been localised, but it just depends how much gets out."

Despite fishing in the area unlikely to be a possibility for weeks, Mr Hunt said he hoped other fishermen would not complain about efforts to clean up waterways.

"I don't think any fisherman on the North-West who access the Mersey River is going to be upset if they lose the Horsehead Creek ramp," he said.

"I hope most of the fisherman would have an open mind and say 'you know what, this is going to be short pain for long-term gain'.

"The oil needs to be cleaned up properly by the authorities."

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