A power outage may have caused a Royal New Zealand Navy ship to run aground on a reef off the coast of Samoa, New Zealand Defence Minister Judith Collins has suggested.
The HMNZS Manawanui, a specialist dive and hydrographic vessel worth $100m (US$61 million), sank Sunday morning after it ran aground on a reef off the coast of Upolu and caught fire.
The ship’s 75 crew and passengers were rescued early Sunday morning in Samoa after the vessel was grounded while conducting a hydrographic survey one nautical mile from shore.
Rescuers faced difficult conditions, battling strong winds and currents that pushed life rafts and sea boats towards the reef, with swells making the rescue effort particularly challenging.
“We are very grateful for the assistance of everyone involved, from RCCNZ who coordinated rescue efforts, to the vessels which responded and took our crew and passengers from Manawanui to safety,’’ Maritime Component Commander Commodore Shane Arndell said.
TVNZ reports Defence Minister, Judith Collins as saying: “We need to find out what that happened, apparently it lost power, I’m aware of that, and ended up aground on the reef.”
She said the Chief of Navy told her the Court of Inquiry had already begun its investigation and that the Chief of Defence told her a report on the incident was “a matter of weeks, or if it’s more complex, a matter of a few months” away.
Additional reporting by Ryan Iroga