Calls For The UK’s Role To Be Considered In The Sinking Of Manawanui

Susana
Lei’ataua, RNZ National Presenter

A New
Zealand law professor is calling for the United Kingdom’s
role to be considered when it comes to compensation for
villagers impacted by the sinking
of Manawanui last year.

The New Zealand navy
vessel was surveying the south coast of Upolu when it struck
the Tafitoala reef, caught fire, and sank on 6 October
2024.

Former Samoa Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa
confirmed the New Zealand navy vessel was surveying the
south coast as part
of security for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting
(CHOGM) and King Charles, who was staying at a nearby
resort.

New Zealand paid $6m in compensation to the
Samoa government for the sinking but Professor Paul Myburgh
from Auckland University of Technology (AUT) said what
Manawanui was doing on the south coast of Upolu needed to be
considered.

“We know that it was, had basically been
called in aid to survey that reef by the UK government so I
would be interested to know what the UK government thinks
its ethical and legal duty is towards those villagers.
Basically if they had not made that request to the New
Zealand navy this whole incident would never have happened,”
Myburgh said.

Letters released under the Official
Information Act (OIA) show Samoa’s Ministry of Foreign
Affairs requested SAT$10 tala – NZ$6 million – be paid by
the New Zealand government following the
sinking.

Pacific security expert Dr Iati Iati from
Victoria University questioned whether New Zealand should be
the only country paying compensation for the sinking of
Manawanui.

“Given that Manawanui sank exactly around
the same time that CHOGM was going on, it drew a lot of
attention to Manawanui that perhaps they didn’t want to have
drawn to it. It drew a lot of attention to the fact that
there could be other actors involved other than New Zealand
and Samoa.”

The wreck of Manawanui remain on the
Tafitoala Reef and Samoa’s Marine Pollution Advisory
Committee was expecting a wreck report in the coming
month.

Professor Myburgh said even with the removal of
“immediate dangers for example from fuel” the wreck
continued to impact the environment.

“And what is
particularly concerning here is that the local villages are
totally dependent on that area for their food, for their
livelihoods so I think that in that context that payment of
that amount should be seen as being very much on the lower
end of the scale,” he said.

The British High
Commission and the UK’s Foreign Office were approached for
comment.

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