Environmental recovery efforts after a New Zealand naval vessel sank off the coast of Samoa will be suspended for one week as the Pacific Island nation gears up for hosting the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
Representatives of village communities who said their livelihoods have been devastated by the sinking of HMNZS Manawanui, met with the New Zealand high commissioner and the Samoan government to express their anger at a perceived lack of support from both governments.
But Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa told a press conference on Friday that work on the shipwreck would be almost entirely scaled back over the next week.
“Response teams — dive and coastal operations — will cease during CHOGM week,” she said, adding that they would do “scaled down monitoring” and “inspections only” over that period.
Prime Minister Fiame says the immediate priority is extracting fuel from the Manawanui. (AFP: Marty Melville/File)
The Manawanui sank in early October near the fishing village of Tafitoala on the southern coast of Samoa’s main island Upolu.
King Charles III will be staying at a resort just 3 kilometres from Tafitoala during CHOGM.
Fishers in the area have been told not to enter the waters around the shipwreck until further notice, while tourism operators report a significant reduction in business as a result of the incident.
Residents of Tafitoala told the ABC this week they wanted compensation from the New Zealand government for loss of income.
“In terms of the impacts to our ocean and marine ecosystems, there should be just compensation,” former Samoan MP Tuia Pu’a Leota, who lives in the affected area, said on Friday.
“Who knows? The impacts could last a hundred years because of this incident.”
Prime Minister Fiame would not be drawn on the issue of compensation when asked by reporters about the issue.
Spokespeople for the New Zealand foreign and defence ministries said it was “too early to comment on other issues at this stage”.
The causes of the Manawanui sinking remain under investigation. (X: Tom Udall )
‘This is not a trickle, this is a disaster’
Community representatives from villages near the wreck have expressed that they want the Manawanui removed altogether.
Prime Minister Fiame said NZ Defence’s draft long-term timeline for operations was prioritising extracting fuel before deciding on any “vessel salvage”.
“The focus of these first weeks has been on monitoring the oil spill and any environmental risks,” she said.
“So far, the main fuel tanks, which are accessible for assessment, are intact. And there is no evidence of any leaks from these main tanks.”
Samoa’s Marine Pollution Advisory Committee told the ABC last week they believed approximately 200,000 litres of diesel had spilled from the Manawanui.
The Manawanui’s anchor chain has damaged Samoan reefs. (Supplied: Government of Samoa)
NZ Defence said its assessment was that the amount of fuel that had leaked was less than this.
New Zealand Defence Minister Judith Collins went further, describing oil coming out of the wreck as “a little trickle”.
Mr Letoa, the former MP, told RNZ earlier in the week that Ms Collins’s statement was “unkind and careless”.
“It is a war boat that has sunk in our ocean, where there are surely some unwanted chemicals,” he said.
“This is not a trickle; this is a disaster.
“We really want to see fair compensation for this.”
Anger from residents
Samoan government representatives met with village heads on Friday, where representatives of affected villages reiterated calls for financial compensation from Wellington.
They also called into question the independence of a New Zealand government inquiry and called for a third party to investigate the environmental fallout of the Manawanui sinking.
A day prior, New Zealand’s high commissioner and a senior national representative of NZ Defence met with about 100 representatives of several villages near the shipwreck.
“We are committed to working with the Samoan government to carefully consider and plan the next steps,” Commodore Andrew Brown said.
“Myself and the high commissioner are here to listen.”
Reverend Feata Perelini, a senior figure in Lotofaga village, told the gathering that the impact on communities dependent on fishing had been devastating.
“If it is long-term then people will become poor and it affects families,” he said as quoted by the Samoa Observer newspaper.
“The words from the New Zealand high commissioner saying we are friends for many years, but these are just words, just words.”
No level of expertise could bring the marine environment back to its original state, Reverend Perelini added.
Samoan authorities say some 200,000 litres of diesel has spilled from the HMNZS Manawanui. (AFP: Dave Poole/File)
Another resident was quoted as saying that villagers were stuck eating coconut cream and taro because they could not fish as usual.
Samoan officials say at least 5,000 square metres of reef has been damaged by the Manawanui shipwreck and its anchor chain.
Three containers from the ship, moved around by ocean currents, have caused further damage.
A statement from NZ Defence said its teams would, along with a local contractor, attempt to extract the containers in the coming days.
HMNZS Canterbury sailed into Apia this week to assist with CHOGM and the Manawanui clean up efforts.
(Supplied: Royal New Zealand Navy)
There are about 50 NZ Defence personnel in Samoa dedicated to the Manawanui response, in addition to the arrival of another vessel, HMNZS Canterbury, and 260 military personnel to assist Samoa in hosting CHOGM.
“Extra stores were on Canterbury to support the response to the sinking of HMNZS Manawanui,” it said in a statement.
Australian and UK naval vessels are also present in Samoa during CHOGM to support maritime security.
