Endeavour at warship's side

By AINSLEY THOMSON

A New Zealand Navy tanker has reached the stricken British destroyer stranded off the coast of Australia, and a second is racing towards it.

The HMNZS Endeavour arrived at 5am yesterday and has been pumping fresh water into the HMS Nottingham, which hit a submerged rock 3.7km east of Lord Howe Island, 450km from New South Wales on Sunday night.

The frigate HMNZS Te Mana is expected to have reached the 3500-tonne guided-missile destroyer early this morning.

Defence spokeswoman Major Jules Lovelock said the Endeavour was providing fresh water to replace supplies contaminated by sea water, and was also providing the Nottingham's 253 crew with "hotel services".

The Endeavour is equipped with pumps which could empty the Nottingham's fuel tanks. It also has oil-absorbing socks, hosing, and contamination equipment which could help to deal with oil spills.

Lord Howe Island board manager Murray Carter said there was not an oil spill, but a "sheen" of residual diesel from the ship's bilge surrounded the ship.

Mr Carter said the ship was stable, but a cold front was expected to pass through last night, which could cause sea swells to increase, making it harder to keep it steady.

"We are still very confident the ship will stay stable," he said.



The Royal Navy has started an inquiry. The ship's captain, Commander Richard Farrington, has said human error was a factor in the grounding.

A spokeswoman from the Royal Navy said: "That is his opinion. He was obviously on board at the time. We have got to wait until the end of the investigation before we start drawing conclusions."

A team of British engineers and salvage experts has arrived to assess damage. The five-member team will decide whether the ship will need to be towed to Sydney for repairs.

Britain's Channel 4 News says a senior military source has told it that the Nottingham was due to escort a consignment of unused nuclear fuel on its way to Britain from Japan. This has been rejected by New Zealand and British authorities.