3 containers from Manawanui removed, says NZDF

Staff Reporters/

Apia, Samoa – 23 October 2024 – The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) says all three containers that came off the sunken HMNZS Manawanui have now been removed from the reef.

A statement from the NZDF said that two of the 10ft shipping containers were empty, while one contained food, which was buried at a landfill.

The three containers are being disposed off at the port.

Deputy Chief of Navy, Andrew Brown described the operation as a “complex team effort” that took four days to pull off.

Meanwhile, Samoa is now fully engaged in hosting the leaders and delegations from the 56 member countries of the Commonwealth.

The Head of the Commonwealth, His Majesty King Charles 111 and Queen Camilla are arriving this evening and will officially open the meeting on Friday this week. The King is staying at a resort that faces the area where the vessel sank.

Meanwhile, the salvage and recovery operation efforts have been scaled down this week as members of Samoa’s Marine Pollution Advisory Committee (MPAC) working with NZDF are fully engaged in the logistics for the hosting of GHOGM.

However, Andrew Brown said a scaled down daily monitoring will continue.

The NZHMS Manawanui sank on 6 October, carrying 950 tonnes – the equivalent of 950,000 litres – of fuel.

The committee reported up to 200,000 litres of diesel leaked from three places on the ship in the first week after it sank.

There had been mounting concerns especially from the villages immediately around the area where the vessel sank, about the potential damage to the environment and marine life.

Fishing has been banned from the area since confirmation that fuel was leaking from the vessel into the ocean.

Samoa’s Marine Pollution Advisory Committee said a contractor would be selected to remove the remaining fuel from the vessel now that an insurance surveyor has completed their work.

Committee chair Fui Tupai Mau Simanu said salvaging the fuel was expected to start in mid-November and take about 20 days, depending on the weather.

Prime Minister Chris Luxon is leading New Zealand’s delegation to CHOGM and is expected to arrive later this evening.