A salvage barge has been securely moored above the wreck of Navy ship MANAWANU in Samoa, with fuel recovery from the sunken ship expected to start early in 2025.

Salvage divers had started familiarising themselves with the ship and marking out fuel tanks ahead of the recovery of fuel and other pollutants, Commodore Andrew Brown said in a NZ Defence Force update on Tuesday.

Divers would use a process called hot tapping to access the tanks and transfer the fuel and other pollutants onto the barge.Valves would be installed on the ship’s hull before attaching a tap, which was essentially a large drill, to make a hole through the hull to get to the internal tanks.Tank contents would be pumped to the barge through a hose attached to a valve.The time of fuel recovery would depend on weather and sea conditions, Brown said.The barge would periodically sail back to the Port of Apia where fuel and other pollutants would be removed into shore-based stowage facilities.In another development, Brown said the Samoan government had reduced the precautionary zone affecting fishing on the south west coast, based on latest water testing results.

The MANAWANUI, an 85-metre specialist diving and survey ship, sunk off the southern coast of Upolu on the evening of October 5, after running onto a reef.

A court of inquiry found human error was to blame, with its interim finding saying the autopilot was accidentally left running, meaning the ship did not respond the way it was expected to when efforts were made to change its direction.

The Navy has said different types of fuel were on board the ship, with the largest amount being 950 tonnes of diesel.

Source : Stuff        Photo : Petty Officer Chris Weissenborn