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Manawanui sinking: Salvage process begins as diesel continues to leak from wreck
The process of salvaging the sunken HMNZS Manawanui has begun as diesel continues to leak from the wreck.
“The recovery efforts will take time but New Zealand is committed to doing the right thing. We’re committed to working with the Samoan government and we will continue to work on site and back from New Zealand in supporting the overarching operation and the removal of Manawanui,” New Zealand’s Deputy Chief of Navy, Commodore Andrew Brown said.
Commodore Brown is leading New Zealand’s Operation Resolution which included 60 personnel who have come to Samoa for the recovery and clean up of the sunken vessel.
“We’re taking this very, very seriously and we’re working hand-in-glove with the Samoan government and with our other agencies such as Maritime New Zealand. Our priorities remain mitigating any possible impacts on the environment following the sinking of Manawanui,” Commodore Brown said.
Samoa’s government agencies and the Pacific regional environment body SPREP (the Sectretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme) are part of Samoa’s Maritime Pollution Advisory Committee which also includes support from Samoa Ocean Strategy.
“We’re doing daily underwater footage capture and we are identifying fuel trickling from the vessel. In fact I understand that New Zealand Defence Force has released video footage of that overnight.
“There is still no evidence of that from the main fuel tanks. They appear to be intact. And our initial technical estimates indicate that up to 200,000 litres of fuel have potentially leaked from the vessel,” Commodore Brown said.
The Defence Force has since said the amount of diesel leaking from the wreck is significantly less than this initial estimate.
It said based on the size of the diesel seen on the water, the leak was much smaller, although it could not give a new figure for how big it might be.
The HMNZS Manawanui ran aground on the Tafitoala Reef on Saturday 6 October and the following morning it caught fire and sank.
The New Zealand Defence Force said 950 tonnes of diesel were on board when it went down. There are about 1200 litres in a tonne.
An insurance surveyor with expertise in salvage and recovery is in Samoa working with New Zealand’s Operation Resolution.
“He and we have commenced that activity and that involves communicating with salvage companies all over the world to come together and assist us in the removal of the fuel from the vessel,” Commodore Brown said.
Fuel leaking from the Manawanui is “very low in quantity, and we’re also obviously continuing the monitoring of where that fuel goes once it surfaces. We’re monitoring the beaches, the environment, the wildlife etcetera etcetera right around the immediate area,” he said.
Samoa Maritime Pollution Advisory Committee chair Fui Tupai Mau Simanu. Photo: RNZ / Louise Ternouth
Samoa’s Maritime Pollution Advisory Committee has divers continuing to scan the seabed to find debris belonging to the Manawanui, and they are awaiting the results of water contamination tests.
“Divers are back to the site today to gather more information so that a plan to stop the fuel leakage can be executed ASAP. Ultimately the plan is to remove the remaining fuel,” said Fui Tupai Mau Simanu, the chair of the Samoa Maritime Pollution Advisory Committee.
The committee has reported substantial damage to the reef from the Manawanui‘s collision and friction from its anchor and the primary area of damage covered 5000 square metres.
New Zealand does not have a timeline for when the diesel will be removed from the vessel or its salvage.
“I can assure you this is not a slow effort. We are going at the absolute pace that we can. It’s a very complex situation. Even the diving operations are very complex at depth and tidal and weather situations,” Commodore Brown said.
“We’ve got plenty of New Zealand Defence Force and other government agencies here working at pace. It is something that we cannot rush. But we also absolutely have to work at pace with respect to this.”
Meanwhile, New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has apologised directly to Samoan leadership for the navy ship’s sinking.
Luxon said he had consistently conveyed New Zealand’s apologies for the unfortunate accident to the Samoan Prime Minister and acting-Prime Minister.
Both New Zealand and Samoa were focused on the task at hand, which was first and foremost limiting the environmental impact, he said.
rnz
The chief executive of the Parliamentary Service is confident there will be enough room to accommodate the increased number of MPs and their staff coming into Parliament.
On current numbers, up to 131 MPs could be sitting in the Chamber following the election, brought on by a record overhang result.
Clerk of the House of Representatives Dr David Wilson told the Spinoff that currently the debating chamber had enough chairs to seat 124 MPs – including the Speaker of the House – and work was being done to accommodate more by altering the seating arrangement.
In a statement, Parliamentary Service chief executive Rafael Gonzalez-Montero said planning for a larger Parliament had been going for “some time”.
“Now that the election results have confirmed an increase to the number of members we are looking at several options.
“We are confident we will be able to accommodate all members within the Chamber.”
VNP / Phil Smith
Gonzalez-Montero said office accommodation for members and their staff would be “stretched” for a short time, but the new Members’ Building was only a few months away from “practical completion”.
That building – located behind Parliament – was due to be ready to occupy in April next year and had capacity to accommodate around 30 backbench MPs.
“All members should be in fit-for-purpose accommodation from that point,” Gonzalez-Montero said.
Following the 2023 election, 123 MPs sat in the Chamber – a record number at the time. That decreased to 122 following the resignation of National MP Judith Collins.
Collins held the seat of Papakura and stepped down in May and Parliament voted against holding a by-election because it was too close to the election.
The election result also meant high-ranking National Party MPs like Chris Bishop, Paul Goldsmith, Nicola Willis and Gerry Brownlee – Speaker of the House and an MP for 30 years – would likely not make it back into Parliament.
Only resigning or retiring MPs were permitted to give a valedictory speech meaning none of them would get the chance to give a valedictory statement.
Asked if their would be special allowances for valedictories, Wilson said in a statement that normally only MPs were allowed to speak in the House but the House could suspend its own rules or temporarily alter them.
“It could do so to allow former members to address the House.”
Wilson said no such arrangements could be made until the next Parliament opened and members sworn in.
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