The barge arrived in New Zealand in July. When it beached on Carters Beach on Sunday, questions emerged about why it was flagged in Niue, which has no connection with the operation.
Many companies register in countries like Niue to avoid having to meet strict maritime conditions. The practice is called using a “flag of convenience”.
Mr O’Connor said he thought there would have been ministerial oversight into how the Government grant was spent. But he didn’t know the detail.
“One of the things that is of concern is that if a boat is flagged in a different country, there’s far less ability for Maritime NZ (MNZ) to ensure that it is fit for purpose and that it meets the standards of what we in New Zealand would say is safe, functional and efficient.”
WMS is one of four entities that make up the Aotearoa Shipping Alliance. The other entities are West Coast hapu Ngāti Waewae, East Cape’s Te Rimu Trust, and Waikato’s Tainui Kawhia Inc.
The alliance received a $30m “blue highway” coastal shipping grant announced by former Transport Minister Michael Wood in 2022.
“I would have hoped that the money going from government had conditions that ensured operation of it, including paying the crew, met New Zealand standards,” Mr O’Connor said today.
A New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) spokesman told The News it allocated funding to coastal shipping initiatives in the 2021-24 National Land Transport Programme.
“This was to enable coastal shipping policy set by the previous government.”
Key criteria were: “alignment with activity class”; “commitment to co-investment”; “ability to deliver in desired timeframe”; “leadership and support for delivery”.
Collectively four suppliers, including WMS, were to invest over $60m to deliver these projects, resulting in combined investment in the coastal shipping sector of over $90m.
The NZTA spokesperson said oversight of vessels and their compliance with relevant legislation was MNZ’s responsibility.
But MNZ’s incident controller for the Manahau grounding, Andrew Sauderson says that isn’t so.
“There has been some confusion about Maritime NZ’s role. Foreign flagged vessels like the Manahau do not require Maritime NZ’s approval to come to New Zealand and operate here. The Manahau is flagged to Niue, meaning that’s where it’s registered. One of the actions we can take is to inspect foreign flagged vessels,” Mr Saunderson said in a statement yesterday.
“We made one of those inspections of the Manahau when it first arrived in July, we found some deficiencies with it at that time and detained it until they were suitably rectified by the operator. There is an investigation underway but as far as we know, none of those prior deficiencies were factors in the grounding.”
Mr Saunderson said MNZ did not have any role in approving the barge for operation in New Zealand.
“We also had no involvement in the decision to provide government funding for this vessel. We also do not have the legal authority to prevent a foreign flagged vessel from operating on our coast.”
When the Manahau reached Westport last month, WMS managing director Ray Mudgway said it would “unlock regional mineral assets that are currently stranded”. The barge is currently stranded on Carters Beach.
Article Written By Ellen Curnow / Westport News
Originally Published in the Westport News | Reproduced with permission
