Barge as it was leaving the port of Apia for the South West coast of Samoa where the Manawanui sunk. Photo: Petty Officer Chris Weissenborn
All anchors are now in place for a barge that will extract fuel, oil and other pollutants from the sunken HMNZS Manawanui in Samoa.
The navy vessel sank and caught fire on October 6 after running aground on a coral reef off the south coast of Upolu.
The barge, which left New Zealand in November, is now near the vessel, after being reconfigured in Apia to handle diving operations.
Drone footage of the HMNZS Manawanui which ran aground on a coral reef in Samoa Photo: NZDF
The Samoan Government gave the green light to the salvors to start the work needed to secure the barge over the ship.
Commodore Andrew Brown told Margot Staunton what's next in the process.
Work begins to secure Manawanui
The NZDF's Commodore Andrew Brown told RNZ Pacific that six anchors are in position.
"Weather permitting, the salvor will continue laying underwater installations which will connect the surface mooring lines to the barge. One the barge is safely over the Manawanui and safely securely in place, the salver will begin fuel extraction."
An interim report into the disaster has determined the cause of the grounding was human error.