The HMNZS Manawanui sank this morning after running aground on a reef near the southern coast of Upolu in Samoa last night and catching fire, according to a New Zealander on the shore.
“It’s gone,” Dave Poole told the Herald.
Poole, who is on a seven-day holiday in Samoa with his wife Kara, saw the news about the ship on social media platform X ( formerly Twitter) about 3.30am and drove 30 minutes from the capital Apia to the coastline this morning to watch the stricken ship one nautical mile offshore, where he met local police officers.
“When we got there, it wasn’t on fire. We watched the fire take hold and the whole infrastructure was burning pretty brightly. You could see it was listed over the port side, and then it just went down and [was] gone,” he said.
Poole, who took a series of photos showing the last moments of the Manawanui, said the ship sunk about 8.45am. [...]
HMNZS Manawanui, which sailed out of Devonport Naval Base in Auckland last Saturday, has a core crew of 39 but bunks for 66, according to the NZDF website.
Commanded by Commander Yvonne Gray, it was built in 2003 and had been in service with the Royal New Zealand Navy since 2019. Its home port is Gisborne.
NZ Herald
Related
Moron of the Day
Judge Harding told Richard Sivell the maximum penalty for threatening to kill is seven years imprisonment. Sivell will be sentenced on 07 January.
Face of the Day
Kristofferson’s family confirmed his death on Sunday night, saying he “passed away peacefully” at home on Saturday. “We’re all so blessed for our time with him,” read the statement.
Latest
Did Peters Back the Wrong Horse
Even Muslims are seeing Israel as the major player in the Middle East and, to some, they are the chief defender of civilised values. Netanyahu is now being called King of the Middle-East by Muslims on social media.
The NZ Judiciary on Trial
NZ cannot afford to have activist judges effectively privatise our entire coastline to tribal interests to exploit for their own benefit. We would urge everyone concerned about the future of our coastline to send in a submission before the 15 October deadline.
I Suppose That’s One Way to Find the Reef
The Navy parked their survey boat on top of a reef they were there to survey. I guess that’s one way of finding it.