Anger and frustration is growing in Samoa, with locals fearing for their livelihoods and food source after the HMNZS Manawanui sank off the coast of Upolu over the weekend.
Oil has reportedly been leaking from the New Zealand Navy survey ship which capsized after hitting a reef and catching on fire on Saturday evening.
1News headed out to the site yesterday, where three containers were wedged on various parts of the reef. A light film of residual fuel could be seen glistening along the heavy swells as it trailed out of the Manawanui, bringing with it an overpowering smell of diesel.
Village high chief Tuia Pepae Pua told 1News he was alerted to local fishermen selling fish on the roadside yesterday which were coated in the oil.
“The fish we saw was all oil and I told the fishermen to take it back, don’t sell it,” he said.
Fisherman Pitoamoa Vaesata said the fish he caught last night has also been contaminated.
He told 1News his family had started to eat the fish but it tasted sour and smelled foul. However, they still felt ill and dizzy after the meal.
There’s fears palolo, known as the caviar of the Pacific, will be affected when it emerges from the reef in a fortnight.
The worms swarm to the surface to the spawn for just one day, twice a year.
The mayors of the villages dotting the south coast have met with the New Zealand Government today to voice their concerns.
Pua said it was about making “sure that we voice our human rights in international law, whatever law, that they should be responsible for it”.
“We don’t have to take it lightly.”
The conservation reserve of Sa’anapu is also in need of protection.
“In such incidents like this, what is needed is quick action and let this be a lesson for everybody,” Sa’anapu mayor Lesa Levale Lesa said.
The New Zealand Defence Force has today announced details of the Court of Inquiry into the sinking of the Manawanui.
The NZ Navy said the fuel contamination is being dealt with at speed.
“There is obviously fuel coming out of the Manawanui,” Navy Chief Rear Admiral Garin Golding said. “As [Defence Minister Judith Collins] mentioned, it’s tracking away from the island.”
But locals say it’s not the case, and are now demanding answers, action, and compensation.