The Navy says HMNZS Manawanui, the ship which sunk off the coast of Samoa, is not leaking oil.
Navy Commodore Shane Arndell told Checkpoint on Tuesday the Manawanui was resting 30m underwater on a reef off the south coast of Upolu, and was not leaking.
“The divers went out this morning to survey the ship … and from what they’ve reported there has been nothing leaking from the ship once it sunk.”
There was no liquid leaking from the ship at all at this stage, he said.
Manawanui is on a part of the reef, he said.
“She’s very stable, she’s lying on her side in that depth of water and quite stable.”
The ship had been damaged but Arndell said he could not give any further details at this stage.
He said divers did an external survey assessment of the ship on Tuesday and confirmed the tanks were holding and there was no leakage, despite claims from locals oil had impacted marine life.
Asked why locals were reporting seeing turtles covered in oil if Manawanui was not leaking, Arndell said a lot of liquid leaked from the ship as it was sinking, but that had now stabilised.
The Samoan government earlier on Tuesday said no leaks had been found.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said New Zealand had committed resources to the “difficult and complex salvage” operation of the $100m vessel in Samoa. (Source: Breakfast)
Nearly 1000 tonnes of diesel fuel were on board HMNZS Manawanui when it sank, Rear Admiral Garin Golding told Morning Report.
A heavy spill kit was being loaded on board vessel the Canterbury, due to depart to Samoa on Wednesday.
Arndell said they would be monitoring the situation and the spill kits would be deployed to try and contain any leaks that did occur.
The main concern was the close to 1000 tonnes of automotive general oil on board the ship, but there would also be other standard chemicals used for operating that type of ship on board, he said.
“It’s your usual household cleaning products or engine cleaning products, most of ours are quite environmentally friendly, we try and just keep the normal stuff that you’d have on any ship.”
The salvors will have to make the decision regarding emptying the ship’s tanks, he said.
“But what we can provide them in this initial assessment of potentially what they will need to be able to supply to help with the salvage effort.”
By this time on Wednesday, there will be around 100 personnel there, with one main mission – prevent an environmental disaster. (Source: 1News)
Whatever they used would be determined by what type of salvage exercise they undertook, he said.
The challenge was how to remove a ship of that size from that depth, he said.
The Manawanui’s tanks would be at the bottom of its hull so would be accessible externally, he said.
“But again I don’t know how they’re going to pull the cargo fuel out of that ship at this stage.”
Draining the tanks was something that would have to be worked through with the salvors, he said.
“Our concerns at the moment are assisting the Samoan people to make sure that any environmental damage is minimised. So to help with that we’ve got a group of people on the ground who are ready to go and help with any clean-up that has been required, they’re also picking up the flotsam that’s from the ship when she sunk and standing by to assist the Samoan authorities and the people as required.”
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