Reefs are to be respected

The grounding on a reef by the HMNZS Manawanui brought back some of my own memories, though fortunately in my case, the boat was not lost.

I vividly recall the time I was stuck in a little boat in Fiji and unable to cross the reef to return home. This memory has very much returned in my mind after the awful sinking of the HMNZS Manawanui on a reef in Samoa. The Captain and crew of the Manawanui are to be commended for the safe evacuation of the vessel. Been stuck on a reef - or as I was, on the wrong side of the reef and without a motor - is a very serious and dangerous situation.

HMNZS Manawauni listing and begin to sink after grounding on a reef

I spent two years living and working in Fiji, on the island of Taveuni to be precise. It was in the days when I was training as a Catholic priest and so I had headed north to visit an little offshore island called Qamea. Some locals had a little runabout for which to take me and two others across the channel. I should have realised there was potential trouble ahead when, as I stepped into the little boat, my foot caught the fuel tank and it went sliding quickly and easily across the boat’s floor. It was in hindsight, a clear sign there was basically no petrol left.

We made it across easily enough and I did my visits to villagers there. But half way back across the channel, as the afternoon was waning, the motor cut out. We had run out of fuel. So here were the four of us in a very small boat, no motor, no oars, and if memory serves me right - no lifejackets. Let’s just say, things were quite relaxed a few decades ago.

So we just drifted. A lot. We also started drifting back in towards the reef surrounding Tavenui. The reef is easy to see because the waves crash across them and as the company of HMNZS Manawanui found out, the reef is jagged and sharp. Get too close and the waves will simply pound your boat into the reef, and into a million different pieces. For our little wooden dingy, it would have been torn apart in seconds. As we saw with the Manawanui, it was likely opened up like a tin can. And once on a reef yourself, the same waves that smashed your boat, smash you. It can be a nasty business.

As we drifted closer in towards the reef, it was time to break the two wooden benches within the boat to make paddles. I recall doing so and trying to get the right amount of force to break the seat, but not so much to then put my foot through the bottom of the boat. These broken benches proved enough to both keep us sufficiently clear of the reef, and to generate enough propulsion to eventually reach an opening in the reef a few hours later. It was a relief, as much physically, to make shore and to meet up with some rather surprised villagers!

So, my thoughts are very much with the ship’s company - it must have been a deeply troubling few hours, in what were much tougher seas and a dark night. As I noted at the start, it is a relief that all made it to shore safely and those involved with the whole process of abandoning ship are to be commended.

Naturally, there are many questions as to why this happened. It is a big event. It is the first sinking of a New Zealand naval vessel since the Second World War. While it is very human to ponder the ‘why’, I think it is best left up to the court of inquiry to work out what happened and where responsibility lies. Till those conclusions are made public - speculation or condemnation, praise or pillorying, serve little value.

The sinking is a very costly reminder that reefs are to be respected. But we can also be very grateful that no lives were lost.

Finally - for those who read this far - a little pictorial insight of me in Fiji, over 20 years ago. This was soon after been incredibly sick, losing around 25kgs as a consequence, and looking rather thinner then than I do today!