Carters Beach Top 10 Holiday Park co-owner Carl Alfeld was having a beer at Donaldo’s Café about 11pm when he noticed the barge was too close to shore. Mr Alfeld contacted the vessel via VHF radio to ensure there was no immediate risk to the crew.
Communication was difficult, but he ascertained the crew were ok.
He and wife Chrissy drove down to the beach to check it out.
Mr Alfeld believed the barge struck ground about 11.30pm.
He saw a helicopter visit the vessel last night and drop a rope which would be used to tug the barge when help arrived.
Donaldo’s owner Thomas Stuart also saw the vessel getting to trouble. He and others in the restaurant kept an eye on the well-lit barge as it got closer to shore.
Mr Stuart said some people reported hearing the vessel screech and groan as it hit land.
Buller Mayor Jamie Cleine said he was first alerted to the Manahau’s plight about 7am yesterday. By then it was already on the beach.
“I was horrified, obviously. But initially focused on is there anyone hurt and is there any environmental disaster about to unfold? The answer to both those was no.”
Mr Cleine said Buller District Council (BDC) harbourmaster Domonic Venz was called around midnight.
It was too early to say how the Manahau incident would affect BDC, he said.
“Obviously, Mineral Sands are a key customer for the port so the sooner they’re up and running and successful the better. But it’s too early to say what any long-term impact could be.”
He had been talking to Westland Mineral Sands and the focus was on getting the barge back on the water.
Aside from the harbourmaster, BDC’s role was limited at this stage. He believed the cost would fall to WMS, not BDC’s ratepayers.
WMS leased most of the council’s port land, Mr Cleine confirmed.
The Manahau first arrived in Westport just two weeks ago. Its first attempt to cross the Buller bar was foiled by bad weather on Monday, August 12. It successfully crossed the following day.
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones was there to greet it. He posted a Facebook video of himself standing on the Carters Beach tiphead as the Manahau sailed over the bar and sounded its horn. “That is the siren of success for the Coast and the mining industry,” the minister exclaimed.
The name Manahau either meant “something of prestige” or “the power of wind”, he said.
By Raquel Joseph and Ellen Curnow of The Westport News
Originally published in The Westport News; republished with permission
