UAS footage of RNZN Divers surveying the area around HMNZS Manawanui on the Southern Coast of Upulo as part of Op Resolution. Photo: New Zealand Defence Force
A Pacific security expert questions whether New Zealand should be the only country paying compensation for the sinking of the Manawanui.
The New Zealand navy vessel was surveying the south coast of Upolu when it hit the Tafitoala reef, set on fire and sank on 6 October last year.
Letters released by Winston Peters' office under the Official Information Act show the Samoa government will not seek further compensation from New Zealand after receiving 10 million tala, about $6 million.
Senior lecturer and Pacific Security fellow at Victoria University's Centre for Strategic Studies, Dr Iati Iati, wants to know whether any other country was involved in the reef survey.
"Given that the Manawanui sank exactly around the same time that CHOGM was going on, it drew a lot of attention to the Manawanui that perhaps they didn't want to have drawn to it. It drew a lot of attention to the fact that there could be other actors involved other than New Zealand and Samoa."
Iati said it probably served the interests of New Zealand to make questions over the Manawanui go away as quickly as possible.
The letters between Winston Peters and then Samoa Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa appeared to be a diplomatic way to end Samoa's compensation claim for the sinking of the Manawanui last year, he said.
Iati questioned whether New Zealand put pressure on Samoa to accept the low payout.
"I'd be curious to know how the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Samoa came to figure of 10 million tala. Were there studies done or did they just pluck it out of thin air?" he said.
"I think there's probably an email trail that precedes this correspondence between Peters and Fiame and if there is an email trail it would be very interesting to see what it is, and how it related to the issue of why the Manawanui was there in the first place and how the 10 million tala figure was arrived at."
Auckland University of Technology law professor Paul Myburgh said the letters showed the New Zealand government applied political pressure on the Samoa government "by saying that the Samoan government agrees that it will try to head off any future claims for compensation by satisfying them accordingly".
Myburgh said the letters showed an agreement between the governments of New Zealand and Samoa and did not bind third party litigants.
New Zealand could evoke sovereign immunity regarding the Manawanui because it is a naval vessel and therefore could not be sued through the Samoan courts, he said.
"But because this is a New Zealand naval vessel and because the Commission of Inquiry has made it plain that the damage here was caused by the negligence of navy personnel, there is the possibility of bringing proceedings under the Crown Proceedings Act in the New Zealand courts against the New Zealand government," Myburgh said.
"I would not have thought that this letter between the two governments precludes villagers from actually seeking legal advice and support in New Zealand and taking the claims further if they feel they have been short-changed."
A spokesperson from New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said New Zealand paid the full amount requested by the government of Samoa.
"This payment demonstrates that we have resolved a number of the issues stemming from the sinking of HMNZS Manawanui, including removal of diesel fuel and other pollutants, as well as debris. We continue to work with Samoa on the next steps for the ship. We are awaiting the results of an independent wreck assessment, with reef and environmental studies that sit alongside this assessment, to inform those next steps."
MFAT said the agreement between New Zealand and Samoa was a treaty under international law, and therefore its terms were legally binding on both countries.
"These obligations relate only to New Zealand and Samoa, so it would not be appropriate to speculate or comment regarding third parties."
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.