A cargo company has been fined nearly quarter of a million dollars for dropping a 15-tonne excavator from a crane - narrowly missing five workers

The incident happened at Northport in Whangarei in 2017.

Tauranga-based company - C3 Limited - has pleaded guilty to one charge of exposing people to risk of death or serious injury.

The Auckland District Court heard the employees were not properly trained and did not clear the drop zone below the crane.

Maritime northern regional compliance manager, Neil Rowarth, says it was sheer good luck no one was seriously injured or killed.