Navy dispels concerns HMNZS Manawanui is leaking oil

By RNZ

The Royal New Zealand Navy says the HMNZS Manawanui, the ship that sank off the coast of Samoa, is not leaking oil.

Navy Commodore Shane Arndell told RNZ’s Checkpoint on Tuesday the Manawanui was resting 30 metres 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 sank.”

There was no liquid leaking from the ship at all at this stage, he said.

The 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 the Manawanui was not leaking, Arndell said a lot of liquid leaked from the ship as it was sinking, but that had now stabilised.

Discover more

• Manawanui sinking dubbed ‘huge blow’ to ‘already small Navy’
• 'Equivalent of third-party': Doomed $100m NZ Navy ship not fully insured
• Salvage and spill response under way after HMNZS Manawanui sinks
• Strong smell of oil reported after Manawanui sinking

The Samoan Government earlier on Tuesday said no leaks had been found.

Nearly 1000 tonnes of diesel fuel were on board the HMNZS Manawanui when it sank, Rear Admiral Garin Golding told RNZ’s 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 to contain any leaks that did occur.

Royal New Zealand Navy vessel the HMNZS Manawanui ran aground near Samoa on Saturday night. Photo / Profile Boats

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 the Navy can provide an initial assessment of what they will need potentially to supply to assist with the salvage effort.

Whatever the salvors 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 sank and standing by to assist the Samoan authorities and the people as required.”

Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.