THE NZ DEFENCE FORCE says another milestone has been reached in the removal of diesel fuel and other pollutants from HMNZS Manawanui.
Manawanui sank on the morning of 6 October 2024 after striking the reef it was surveying off the Upola on the southern coast of Samoa. Preliminary inquiry findings included a failure to disengage the vessel’s autopilot. The NZ Government has indicated the vessel will not be directly replaced.
Ahead of decisions to be taken about the salvage of the vessel itself, the salvors’ barge has returned from the wreck site to Apia to unload tanktainers of liquid, completing the second cycle of removal.
“The salvors have recovered a significant amount of liquid from tanks on the Manawanui after operating above Manawanui for the past 17 Days,” NZDF Senior National Representative for Operation Resolution, Commodore Andrew Brown said.
The salvors have pumped liquid from the larger and more accessible tanks, and are now moving to harder to reach, and smaller, tanks, Commodore Brown said.
“At this stage of the operation the salvors’ divers need to cut access into the ship to reach the more difficult to get to tanks. There are 54 tanks of various sizes on the ship. Some contain diesel fuel, some lubricating oil, and some water, wastewater (or greywater), and bilge water.
“As at 4 February just over 340,000 litres of liquid has been recovered from Manawanui. Of this we estimate 320,000 litres of diesel fuel mix has been recovered from the ship’s diesel fuel tanks. This liquid is a mixture of diesel fuel and seawater. Volumes recorded on the barge can fluctuate as liquids, including fuel, are subject to expansion and contraction with heat.
“The amount of diesel fuel in the liquid recovered won’t be known until the liquid is processed, although the majority of the volume of liquid recovered so far is assessed to be diesel fuel,” he said.
“In addition to the liquids from the diesel fuel tanks, the salvors have recovered around 18,000 litres of lubricating oil from oil storage tanks within the ship.”
Commodore Brown said with the diesel fuel and other pollutants removal well underway, the focus is now shifting to what’s next for Manawanui. The Samoan and NZ governments are working closely together to identify what these next steps are.
“The New Zealand Defence Force and the salvors maintain an absolute focus on protecting coastal and marine environments. As we progress toward the completion of the diesel fuel and other pollutants removal, it is extremely important we remain focussed on doing a careful and thorough job,” he said.
“New Zealand remains absolutely committed to doing the right thing.”
