- During a reef survey, the New Zealand Navy Ship HMNZS Manawanui ran aground near Samoa’s Upolu coast, causing damage to the reef and releasing 200,000 liters of diesel into the ocean.
- The ship still contains 950 tonnes of diesel. Salvage and cleanup operations involving 60 New Zealand Defence Force personnel and Samoan officials are underway to prevent further environmental damage.
Samoa, an island nation in Polynesia, is suffering from damage caused by a New Zealand Navy Ship, the HMNZS Manawanui, which ran aground close to the southern coast of Upolu while conducting a reef survey, reports the Guardian.
Authorities say 200,000 litres of diesel have leaked into the waters after the incident as the nation races to remove the remaining fuel from the vessel before the cyclone season arrives.
Environmental Impact
The ship has caused considerable damage to the nearby reef and the pristine waters of the country. The people of Samoa fear lasting damage to the marine ecosystem and have called for an independent investigation and appropriate compensation due to the destruction of the coral reef after the oil spill.
The P.M. of New Zealand, Christopher Luxon has apologised to the Samoan Leader for the accident. This grounding also marks the first time when New Zealand lost a naval vessel since WWII.
A court of inquiry has been called and the New Zealand and Samoan Leaders, Luxon and Fiame Mata’afa will meet before the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Samoa this week.
However, New Zealand’s defence force and defence minister Judith Collins stated that the leak was just a ‘light slick’ and a ‘trickle’ and doubted the figure put forward by Samoan authorities when asked in a press conference. He stated it was quite less and came from small leakages from pipes which take the fuel around the ship and not from storage tanks.
Samoa’s chair of the Marine Pollution Advisory Committee (MPAC), Fui Mau Simanu, said that the destruction in the surrounding region is massive, with the assessment showing substantial damage of 5000 square metres to the reef where the shipwreck and anchor chain lies.
The ship has around 950 tonnes of diesel and tanks need to be removed. A team comprising 60 New Zealand Defence Force personnel were engaged in salvage and cleanup operations along with Samoan officials.
Disputed claims and Samoa’s reaction
New Zealand’s Deputy Chief of Navy, Commodore Andrew Brown, stated that they were trying their best to prevent damage to the marine environment and are working with agencies like Maritime New Zealand to remove fuel before cyclone season as the ship could move or worse, break up in bad weather.
Nick Ling, associate professor in biodiversity and ecology at the University of Waikato said that the diesel can coat marine mammals, seabirds, turtles and snakes if it gets on the reef. Many creatures might die a painful death while corals take decades to regenerate.
Another political scientist Dr Lati Lati said that New Zealand had compromised another nation’s security and has called for an independent investigation.
The villagers say that they can smell the diesel. It is a blow to the nation which has not fully recovered after a deadly tsunami wreaked havoc on its marine environment more than a decade ago. Those who went fishing this week said that the fish were slippery and smelled of oil. A few other people from Safata district blamed their government for downplaying the damage.
Afoa Patolo Afoa, a 75-year-old fisher from Tafitoala, said that the coast has been closed since October 7, and there is uncertainty about when it will open and how safe the seafood will be. He is stressed as this is their source of income for supporting their families.
Manu Percival, a surf guide who aided the rescue effort of the 75 crew and passengers from the Manawanui, said that he didn’t see any New Zealanders helping to pick up the garbage. He said that since Samoa is a poor country, they don’t care, especially as New Zealand has caused so much historical damage to Samoa.
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Source: The Guardian
