The Navy ship is leaking fuel from three separate places after hitting a reef and sinking over the weekend. Video / Supplied
As huge waves slammed into their humble boat, a local Samoan diver and his mates had to think fast to ensure the 21 people they were carrying – via two liferafts they were towing – would make it out alive.
With the help of three friends, including one with a 6.4m boat anchored at a nearby resort, they set out to see how they could help. By the time they got there, the naval ship was listing dangerously to the right and there was no one in sight.
“They fired a flare for us so we could see them and they had drifted further west from where the ship was,” he said.
A photo of the doomed NZ Navy ship, the HMNZS Manawanui, taken during the rescue mission. Photo / Supplied
When they reached the 75-strong crew, they were in four life rafts and two rigid inflatable boats (ribs) tied together in an attempt to prevent them from separating.
Shortly after their arrival, as well as that of other rescuing vessels – including a cable ship – the conditions started to intensify out at sea.
“The waves started picking up, the winds started picking up and then the ropes that were holding the liferafts started breaking.
“One of the liferafts and one rib got separated from the group,” he said.
“We had to tow those guys towards the cableship and our lines kept breaking. We kept losing them because it was so rough – even parts of our boat broke off because we were tying their rafts onto it.”
The HMNZS Manawanui now lies beneath the waves in Samoa.
He said there were 11 people on the rib they were towing. Another 10 crew members were in the liferaft attached to their vessel. They worked in treacherous waters to get members off both the rib and liferaft onto the cableship - a move that soon proved too risky.
The 11 people in the rib managed to board the cableship. But there were fears for those in the liferaft attempting to board the bigger vessel, as the stormy conditions intensified.
‘There were a lot of emotions’
“The boats were [going] everywhere. The big waves and our boat were ramming into the cable ship,” the rescuer said.
“We had to make a call. It was too unsafe for them to be on the liferaft next to the cable ship, so we unloaded all 10 of them on to our boat. It almost sunk our boat as we now had 14 people onboard.
“Half our engine was in the water... our skipper looked back and just kept going forward.”
He said other vessels, including those from Samoa’s Police and Fire and Emergency teams, worked to help the rest of the crew members; as he and his mates focused on getting the 10 people they had to safety.
New Zealand Defence Force personnel on shore after being rescued from the sea when the ship Manawanui ran aground in Samoa. Photo / Samoa Fire and Emergency Services Authority
Some of the members became physically sick – something he put down to fear and worry, rather than seasickness, he said.
“There were a lot of emotions. Some of them kind of froze up and didn’t want to leave the liferaft because it was way too rough out there.”
How local knowledge helped
Local knowledge of the reef and nearby bays would also lead them to another decision – to head for a nearby bay to wait out the storm in sheltered waters until sunrise.
The other option was to head to a coastal resort. But it would have taken another hour in choppy seas.
“It would’ve been too dangerous for us to cross the reef over [there]... with how many people we had on board.
“We got into the bay around 3.30am and anchored up. We were pretty safe there then and I started communicating with the police... to let them know we were all okay.”
Asked about the Kiwi crew members they had on board, he said they were all young, save for one or two members who appeared to hold high ranks.
“Some were exhausted – sitting on the floor sleeping. The older guys were awake.”
All 75 crew members from the Manawanui were saved – 11 on the LadbrogCable vessel, 11 by the Ark Marine company, 18 by the Nafanua III and 36 by the Samoa Police with assistance from Samoa Fire and Emergency boats.
He said local knowledge proved to be one of the key factors in the rescue mission; particularly as it was pitch black out at sea.
“You don’t even know which direction the waves are coming through and you can’t see shore, you can’t see anything. We surf out there and we know the bays pretty well.
“Everything was a risk, but I think we took the right one.”
Vaimoana Mase is the Pasifika editor for the Herald’s Talanoa section, sharing stories from the Pacific community. She won junior reporter of the year at the then Qantas Media Awards in 2010 and won the best opinion writing award at the 2023 Voyager Media Awards.
