The process to remove fuel from the HMNZS Manawanui after it sank in Samoa is expected to begin this month, the New Zealand Defence Force says.
However, an academic has expressed concern with the pace of the operation and monitoring around the wreck.
The NZ Navy vessel sank on a coral reef off the coast of the island of Upolu after running aground and catching fire on October 6. All 75 of its passengers and crew safely evacuated.
Local authorities said about 200,000 litres of diesel leaked from the wreckage in the week following the incident.
Samoan international relations expert Iati Iati said the sinking was “an international incident”. (Source: Breakfast)
In an update this afternoon, NZDF senior national representative Commodore Andrew Brown said the Manawanui’s “main fuel tanks remain intact and any small leaks are being managed and contained”.
“The New Zealand Defence Force is actively engaged in discussion on options for fuel removal from the ship, which remains our next priority,” he said.
“We are currently undergoing due diligence around contract negotiations and ensuring the Samoan authorities are fully involved in this process.”
The process to remove the fuel from the dive and hydrographic vessel was expected to begin in November. However, “how long it will take will be dependent on external influences such as weather”.
“As always our focus is on minimising any possible environmental impacts. This remains our absolute priority.”
Details on the fuel removal plan would be provided in due course, Brown added.
‘Clearly considerable urgency’
1News Pacific Correspondent Barbara Dreaver was there when they were alerted to two life rafts. (Source: 1News)
University of Waikato associate professor in biodiversity and ecology Nick Ling said there is “clearly considerable urgency to remove the remaining fuel from the wreck” ahead of the Pacific cyclone season.
Ling said he was “somewhat surprised” that a contractor had not been sought earlier in the clean-up process “given that this was always the priority, and that there will obviously be further delay in getting salvage assets to Samoa once a contractor is engaged”.
He also expressed concern there “appears to be no ecological monitoring of the site”, even as local fishermen reported fish becoming contaminated with fuel days after the wreck.
One local fisherman told 1News fish he had caught for his family’s dinner had tasted sour and made them ill after becoming contaminated with the oil.
Ling added that while the NZDF is continuing to monitor the wreck and surrounding coast, it was “unclear whether this relates simply to the presence of debris and oil”.
“While the fuel carried on the Manawanui is considerably less problematic than heavier forms of oil such as crude… there is still the potential for chemical contamination of the reef and its fish stocks by toxic hydrocarbons. There will also be other forms of oil on board such as lubricating oils.
“I would have thought the NZ Government owed it to the people of Samoa to undertake whatever work was required to allay fears of the potential or current impacts of the wreck.”
