New Zealand’s Newest Artificial Reef- Crew Error
HMNZS Manawanui
Crew Mistakes Caused the Sinking of a New Zealand Navy Ship off Samoan Coast, Inquiry Finds
By CHARLOTTE GRAHAM-McLAY
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Mistakes by members of the crew caused a New Zealand navy ship to plow into a reef off the coast of Samoa, where it caught fire and sank, according to the preliminary findings of a military Court of Inquiry released Friday.
The ship’s crew did not realize autopilot was engaged, believed something else had gone wrong with the ship, and did not check the HMNZS Manawanui was under manual control as it maintained course toward land, a summary of the inquiry’s first report said. The full report has not been made public.
All 75 people on board the vessel evacuated safely as the boat foundered about 1.6 kilometers (a mile) off the coast of Upolu, Samoa, in October. The ship was one of only nine in New Zealand’s navy and was the first the country lost at sea since World War II.
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“The direct cause of the grounding has been determined as a series of human errors which meant the ship’s autopilot was not disengaged when it should have been,” Golding told reporters in Auckland on Friday.
The local Samoans are understandably concerned about the environmental impact of the sunken vessel on their reef but NZ officials say there is no evidence of contamination, as most of the diesel fuel burned up in the ensuing fire. So there’s that. They are monitoring the situation.
Critical factors discovered by the Court of Inquiry include training, planning, supervision, readiness and risk assessment failures. When the ship CO’s qualifications were questioned, New Zealand’s defense minister Judith Collins disparaged the negative social media commentary as “vile and misogynistic.”
“The one thing that we already know did not cause it is the gender of the ship’s captain, a woman with 30 years’ naval experience who on the night made the call to get her people to safety,” Collins said. “We are all appointed on merit, not gender.”
The CO, Commander Yvonne Gray may very well have been the best qualified and skilled officer to take the helm, but the poison of DEI is always the question of a leader’s caliber over social engineering. Is she a product of a flawed officer selection process? Will the impending NZ military court of inquiry actually address root causes? Stay tuned.
Category: DEI, Government Incompetence
“Critical factors discovered by the Court of Inquiry include training, planning, supervision, readiness and risk assessment failures.”
But I’m sure the planning for the next on board pride event was completed before the accident.
Don’t forget the DEI training roster.
Nothing has done more damage to the military than DEI.
Every time I see a female or a minority officer or senior NCO in a leadership position, I can’t help to wonder how he/she got there. Sadly, not every time it has been due to merit.
DEI has undermined the hard work of the minority people it was intended to help, just as every socialist/communist/collectivist initiative has done before.
But then, maybe I am a POS, perhaps I am the problem, and I shouldn’t be noticing those things.
DEI sunk 25% of the New Zealand Navy…
DEI accomplished what the IJN couldn’t
How do you know that?
DEI hired and promoted will, eventually, end in catastrophe.
“The one thing that we already know did not cause it is the gender of the ship’s captain, a woman with 30 years’ naval experience…”
I am sure All-Points Logistics had a contract in there somewhere…
To paraphrase the late great Tom Petty, sometimes your best just ain’t good enough.