Who really sank HMNZS Manawanui?

The Mismanaged Mission That Doomed a Navy

It was already a day late when the Royal New Zealand Navy’s dive and hydrographic ship Manawanui sailed out of the Waitemata Harbour on Saturday, September 28, 2024, on a poorly defined South Pacific deployment ordered by the government.

The day-late departure from Auckland had been caused by a defect in one of the ship’s  two azimuth thrusters (azipods) - though some might rue the talented marine engineering fit that got it working so quickly.

She would never return to her dock at Devonport and today lies in around 50 metres of rough waters off the southern coast of ‘Upolu in Sāmoa. As she slowly decays into Sāmoa’s environment like other navies, the Navy is running a court of inquiry and setting up court martials.

Yet those truly to blame—the cabinet ministers who gutted the Navy while crews were sacrificed for back-office savings—receive little mention. The government worsened matters by sending Manawanui to Sāmoa on a mission designed to ensure King Charles and Camilla could sleep safely in an exclusive coastal resort. A royal commission is needed to investigate what has gone wrong with the 84‑year‑old Te Taua Moana o Aotearoa. 

HMNZS Manawanui

Defence Minister Judith Collins had left the navy with a dysfunctional ship, that much is clear from the published findings of the Court of Inquiry…

 ‘For the purpose of collecting and recording evidence on the circumstances that resulted in the loss of HMNZS Manawanui off Upolu, Samoa, on 6 October 2024.’

Naval careers will be sunk soon; politicians though will sail on.