New Zealand has paid $3.5 million to Samoa to compensate for a ship that ran aground and sank on a reef one year ago.
The Royal New Zealand Navy vessel Manawanui ran aground and sank while surveying a reef off the south coast of Samoa in October 2024.
The results of an investigation released in April of this year found the ship's crew was undertrained and the sinking was the result of human error.
All 75 passengers and crew survived. A probe into whether there will be any disciplinary proceedings was in its closing stages.
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said the payment followed a request from the Samoan government, and was paid in full and in good faith.
Village elders told Radio New Zealand that once-rich fishing grounds near the reef had been destroyed, and they want the wreck removed.
Peters said the two governments continue to work together on decisions about the ship and its future.
A New Zealand Navy official said much work has been done in the past 12 months to minimize the effects of the sinking and investigate the causes.
Fallen shipping containers have been removed, and fuel, pollutants, weapons, ammunition and debris have been recovered.
