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Manawanui on fire, crew rescued

A fire has broken out aboard the New Zealand Navy’s HMNZS Manawanui after it ran aground on a reef off the southern coast of Samoa on Saturday.

The Samoa Fire and Emergency Services Authority confirmed flames and smoke were visible from the stranded vessel, but local fire crews lack the necessary equipment to combat the blaze at sea.

The ship’s 75 crew members and passengers had already abandoned ship, taking to life rafts as waves drove them away.

Maritime authorities, including Maritime New Zealand and a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-8A Poseidon, coordinated rescue efforts, with nearby vessels responding to ensure the crew’s safety.

The Manawanui had been conducting a reef survey at the time of the incident.

The New Zealand Defence Force is investigating the cause of the grounding and subsequent fire.

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12 COMMENTS

  1. How can a ship catch on fire. Sounds like more leftish negligence to me. Exactly what happened with the electrical tower that fell over.

  2. One wonders what nautical chart was being used for navigation?
    If the boat was surveying the ocean bottom around the reef for the purpose of Navigational Chart revisions, maybe the boat ran aground due to the ocean bottom being recently upthrusted in a more recent undersea quake?
    Or the recent typhoons shifted a lot of sand, which of course are NOT on any chart.
    It could also be that wave action lessened the clearance from the bottom of the boat to the sea bottom while in a wave trough, causing the stranding.
    Was it low tide? Did the boat lose power and the ability to avoid and steer around the sand bar?
    Normally, the civilian maritime world purchases former Naval vessels, but this boat is the other way around.
    How old was the boat? When was the last survey taken? Was there metal fatigue in the hull? Did losing power result in a short that later became an electrical fire that grew in size?

  3. Yes Russia and China will need to reset their military strategy.

    Basically leave NZ alone and they will destroy themselves 🤣🤣😜

  4. It seems the commander is credited with saving lives. Shouldn’t they also be responsible for it running aground? Also – seems that they only joined the navy in 2012 or later so extraordinary that they made commander after 10 years. Oh wait – it’s a woman… wonder if it was a diversity promotion or talent?

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