This is the moment a Royal New Zealand Navy ship catches fire and sinks after running aground on a coral reef off Samoa, leaving the crew members on board shipwrecked.
The New Zealand Defense Force said on Sunday that the HMNZS Manawanui, the New Zealand Navy’s specialist diving and hydrographic vessel, ran aground near the southern coast of Samoa’s main island, Upolu, on Saturday night.
The 75 crew and passengers on board had been conducting a survey of tropical reefs in the island nation before the ship caught fire and sank Sunday morning at 9 a.m.
Samoa Fire Commissioner Tanuvasa Petone said the ship burst into flames before sinking following a successful rescue mission, and everyone on board was reported safe ashore, NZ Radio stated.
Three of the 75 needed hospital treatment, he added.
New Zealand’s HMNZS Manawanui capsized off Samoa on Saturday night with 75 crew and passengers on board.
Images captured at the moment the ship went up in smoke.
Several vessels responded and helped rescue the crew and passengers who had abandoned ship in lifeboats.
The Manawanui has carried out a number of specialist diving, salvage and reconnaissance duties in New Zealand and throughout the South West Pacific.
‘They are all on the ground. They are safe and sound, except for a few people who… have some minor injuries, so we treated them on the spot and took them to the hospital.’
The rescue operations were coordinated by Samoan emergency services and Australian Defense personnel with the help of the New Zealand rescue centre, according to a statement from the Samoa Police, Prison and Correctional Service posted on Facebook.
Several ships responded and helped rescue crew and passengers who had abandoned ship in lifeboats, Commodore Shane Arndell, commander of the New Zealand Defense Force’s maritime component, said in a statement.
A Royal New Zealand Air Force P-8A Poseidon was also deployed to assist in the rescue.
Videos and photographs published in local media showed the Manawanui, which cost the New Zealand government around £48 million in 2018, listing heavily and with plumes of thick gray smoke rising after running aground.
The cause of the grounding remains unknown and requires further investigation, the Defense Force said after the incident.
Samoan authorities had issued a maritime warning for the island’s southern coast over the weekend.
Winds of up to 25 mph and ocean waves of up to 13 feet were forecast at the time of the incident.
The New Zealand military said rescuers had battled currents and winds that pushed life rafts and boats onto reefs and that “the surf made the rescue effort particularly challenging.”
Rescue operations were coordinated by Samoan emergency services and Australian Defense personnel with assistance from the New Zealand rescue centre.
All 75 were reported safe on the ground Sunday morning; three were sent to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries.
A plane will leave for Samoa on Sunday to bring the crew and rescued passengers back to New Zealand.
The cause of the grounding remains unknown and requires further investigation, the Defense Force said after the incident.
Crew and passengers escaped sinking ship in lifeboats
It added that it was “working with authorities to understand the implications and minimize environmental impacts.”
Defense Minister Judith Collins described the grounding as “a real challenge for everyone on board”.
“I know it’s going to take a long time to process what has happened,” Collins said at the news conference.
“I hope to identify the cause so we can learn from it and prevent it from happening again,” he said, adding that the immediate goal was to save “what’s left” of the ship.
Navy chief Rear Admiral Garin Golding told a news conference in Auckland that a plane would leave for Samoa on Sunday to bring the crew and rescued passengers back to New Zealand.
He said some of those rescued had suffered minor injuries, including while walking on a reef.
The Manawanui has carried out a number of specialist diving, salvage and reconnaissance duties in New Zealand and throughout the South West Pacific.
It was also used for maritime rescue and had a 100-tonne maritime crane.
The New Zealand Navy is already working at reduced capacity with three of its nine ships idled due to staff shortages.