New Zealand seems to be having a bit of a boat problem.
Although it feels important to blame someone, it really is far too early to know who should get the sack for sinking a painfully large percentage of the New Zealand Navy at the weekend. No one died though, and for that, we can thank the crew’s training, and the actions of Commander Yvonne Gray, HMNZS Manawanui’s captain. By getting 75 passengers and crew off the ship at night in big swells, she saved many lives.
The Royal New Zealand Navy owes a debt of gratitude to the Samoan Fire and Emergency Services Authority and marine police, whose crews worked all night to help save Manawanui’s embattled sailors from the wind, waves and reef.
For some reason, the RNZN has been embarrassingly slow to acknowledge their assistance. Their official press release doesn’t mention Samoa’s police and fire teams, thanking nameless “vessels which responded and took our crew and passengers from Manawanui to safety… the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) worked closely with the Rescue Coordination Centre (RCCNZ) who led the rescue effort.”
An enthusiastic post from the Samoan Fire and Emergency Services Authority on Facebook put the record straight, including photographs of bedraggled RNZN crew and boats being dragged ashore by men in Samoan police uniform.
“Our fire rescue team responded to the Manawanui vessel navy crew in distress, working from last night until this morning. Fortunately, no one was heavily injured and no lives were lost. We’re proud to say WE SAVED THEM (two clapping emojis). If you’re unsure about our sea areas, please BE CAREFUL, TAKE CAUTION and STAY SAFE!!
Manuia le aso Sa muamua ole masina.”
Salvaging the ship is now an emergency, as HMNZS Manawanui sank near a marine reserve known for its green sea turtles, an endangered species. The navy will require outside help, as the only ship in the New Zealand Navy with the word ‘salvage’ in her CV is the one which sank. Who will salvage the salvager?
A marine investigation could take as long as a year. In any event, the RNZN’s most pressing task is to minimise environmental damage to the Samoan coast.
International relations expert Dr Iati Iati of Victoria University told The Post newspaper that there would be anger in Samoa towards New Zealand.
“Embarrassing is probably the tip of the iceberg. I think as you see this play out over the next few months, [the] economic consequences, as well as the environmental consequences, will get worse.
“In terms of the environment, the vast majority of Samoa’s biodiversity and biomass exists really close to the shore. So you just cannot afford to have any oil spills hit the coastal ecosystem,” he said.
“Subsistence fishing is the largest and most important fishing activity in Samoa. You have many ordinary people relying on the ocean for their living, much more so than other more developed Pacific countries.”
Bridie Allan, a senior lecturer at the Department of Marine Science at the University of Otago, told The Post she was worried about the effect of the disaster on the reef, and those who depend on it. “I really hope the New Zealand government is going to be doing something really quickly to deal with that and support Samoa as much as possible.”
As the government batted off questions of insurance, responsibility or compensation, former New Zealand First MP Ron Mark – Minister of Defence between 2017 and 2020 – astonished jaded observers by seeming to claim partial responsibility for the disaster. Just as everyone was blaming the Labour government, too.
“It’s my ship and I’m gutted,” Mark told RNZ’s Morning Report. It was his ministerial team, he admitted, which purchased the then 16-year-old vessel from Norway, and oversaw her refitting for service in 11 months.
“We bought Manawanui knowing she was not a war ship, she’s a commercial operation… but with that comes a risk and the risk is that commercial vessels do not have the same level of redundancy in their systems or their design that warships do – you can’t seal off compartments, create water tight compartments and keep the vessel afloat so that it can be towed, salvaged and repaired. Unfortunately, with commercial vessel of this type, you know that in a worst-case situation you’re going to have an issue, but I guess no one anticipated that she’d hit a reef.”
“What a quote. Audacity indeed. To put that on record” gasped Nicola Gaston, former president of the New Zealand Association of Scientists, on social media.
As the stink of oil wafts from a darkening sea, and the ship’s toxic gunk, compared by one scientist as “a bit of a chocolate mousse,” threatens coral and shores, Luxon’s office is preparing for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2024 (CHOGM) in a few weeks’ time.
You’ll never guess where it is.
• Jenny Nicholls
© Waiheke Gulf News Ltd 2024
