Oceania

$63 million New Zealand Navy ship runs aground and sinks

$63 million New Zealand Navy ship runs aground and sinks

Published:

6 Oct 2024 06:50 GMT

The incident occurred off the coast of Samoa.

The Royal New Zealand Navy ship HMNZS Manawanui ran aground and subsequently sank this Saturday off the coast of Samoa, while carrying out a survey of tropical reefs, they communicated the New Zealand Defense Forces.

It is reported that The 75 crew members and other occupants are safe and they began to be evacuated in lifeboats. The head of the Navy, Rear Admiral Garin Golding, communicated that this Sunday a plane would leave for Samoa to bring all those rescued back to New Zealand.

Local media published videos and photographs showing how the ship was listing and columns of thick gray smoke after running aground. According to Reutersthe ship cost the New Zealand government 103 million New Zealand dollars (about 63 million US dollars) in 2018.

The New Zealand Defense Forces indicated that the cause of the stranding is unknown of the Navy’s specialized diving and hydrography vessel off the southern coast of Upolu and that further investigation would be necessary.



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