Maritime NZ, owners Westland Mineral Sands (WMS) and Buller District Council (BDC) are all tight-lipped about the events that led to it beaching in the early hours of Sunday morning or what it might mean for the future.
The second-hand barge, which was purchased from Indonesia by WMS to transport sand mined at Cape Foulwind to larger vessels, had had a major overhaul before sailing to New Zealand. It has taken just one shipment to Nelson.
The previous Government contributed $7 million to its purchase under a plan to restart coastal shipping. Development West Coast last year invested $3m in WMS.
The barge had been anchored out in Buller Bay for about a week before it ran aground at Carters Beach during stormy weather in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Maritime NZ personnel are now in Westport to lead the Government’s response to the grounding.
In a statement this morning, Maritime NZ said 11 crew members remained on board the 98m vessel and were safe. The barge was intact, no items had been lost, and there were no leaks. There was no cargo on-board when the Manahau beached.
Contractors managed by WMS were onsite, Maritime NZ said.
“The operator is responsible for the development of the plan around the vessel. Maritime NZ is leading the Government response collaboratively with the local and regional authorities to ensure any plans are safe.”
A specialist tug vessel would be brought down from Taranaki to support a potential re-float later this week.
Maritime NZ urged people to stay away from the vessel. Hundreds of locals have flocked to see it since yesterday morning.
“It is an operational area, and is highly dangerous,” the statement said.
Maritime NZ said it would not give media interviews.
“As the matter is under investigation, we are not in a position to talk about the events leading up to the grounding.”
The News this morning tried unsuccessfully to contact WMS managing director Ray Mudgway. The paper also sent written questions to WMS. They included:
• What went wrong to cause the Manahau to beach on Saturday night/Sunday morning?
• did the Manahau issue a mayday call to Maritime NZ? If not, why not?
• what does the grounding mean for the future? How will you fulfill current orders?
• how do you respond to the maritime union’s criticisms about the vessel using foreign crew instead of NZ seafarers?
• is the vessel fit for purpose?
• why did the Manahau leave Nelson in the face of bad weather forecasts? Why didn’t it return there?
• was the Manahau in touch with the harbourmaster in the week it sat out in Buller Bay? During the incident? What advice did it receive?
WMS responded with a written statement: “A specialist recovery team engaged by WMS arrived in Westport last night to assist with the recovery of the Manahau at Carters Beach.
“All 11 crew remain safely on board and additional food supplies will be delivered to them later today. There are no environmental concerns.
“WMS continues to work closely with local councils and Maritime New Zealand about beach access.
“We have engaged an independent expert to conduct a thorough investigation to help us understand how this incident occurred.”
The Buller District Council (BDC) also declined to answer questions from The News, saying only: “Maritime NZ is the lead government agency responding to all media enquiries in relation to this incident.”
Questions for BDC included:
• Could BDC face any liability for the beaching of the Manahau barge?
• what advice did the harbourmaster give the Manahau in the week leading up to the beaching?
• what does the beaching mean for the future of sand barging out of Westport?
• what could it mean for the income BDC counted on in the 2021-31 Long Term Plan (LTP)?
Auditors criticised the council in 2021 for making “unreasonable” assumptions about port income from a “large commercial operator”. The LTP said BDC would make about $25.2m over 10 years.
By Ellen Curnow and Lee Scanlon of The Westport News
Originally published in The Westport News; republished with permission
