Royal New Zealand Navy loses first vessel to the sea in 80 years

The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) has suffered its first loss of a ship to the sea since World War II with the sinking of HMNZS Manawanui off the coast of Samoa.

The Manawanui, a specialist diving and ocean imaging ship, ran into trouble one nautical mile from the island of Upolu on 5 October. It was on duty conducting a local reef survey. The ship had only been in active service with the RNZN since 2020 having previously sailed as survey vessel MV Edda Fonn in the oil and gas industry for 17 years. It was built in 2003 by Myklebust Verft.

The ship ran aground, caught fire, capsized and sank, although officials have yet to pinpoint a reason for the initial grounding beyond "rough weather".

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The New Zealand Defence Force said that all 75 people on board were safely evacuated onto lifeboats.

The Manawanui sinking marks the first time in almost 80 years that the RNZN has experienced an unintentional sinking. It has sunk several of its own vessels in the intervening decades for a variety of reasons, including to create an artificial reef, but the Manawanui being vanquished by what is being described as “rough weather” leaves scope for a potential environmental disaster.

New Zealand defence minister Judith Collins said that, with all the crew safe, the authorities’ first priority would be to assess the depth of the vessel and the risk of a catastrophic chemical spill so close to the reef the ship was there to survey.

“It’s got a lot of oil on board,” Collins remarked. “It’s got lubricating oil, hydro oil, diesel, urea. It’s got a lot of stuff in it and I don’t think we can just leave it like that.” 

While divers were sent to the scene on the night of 6 October, Collins was quick to temper optimism for a rapid solution. 

“They’ll be having a look to see what they can see, but it’s going to be quite a big job,” she explained.

Meanwhile, acting Samoan Prime Minister Tuala Tevaga Iosefo Ponifasio described an oil spill as “highly probable”, adding that “The HMNZS Manawanui is not recoverable”. It has since emerged that the ship had only partial insurance, and the so-called "third-party" coverage it carried will be unlikely to match the cost of any operation to prevent it becoming an environmental threat. That, said New Zealand finance minister Nicola Willis, was the “historical standard” for RNZN vessels, due to the cost of full insurance being “prohibitive”.  

In the immediate aftermath of the sinking, the focus will be on avoiding or minimising the effects of the potential chemical spill. It remains to be seen whether the Royal New Zealand Navy will replace the vessel in the longer term.