Maritime NZ continues to work with the grounded Manahau barge’s operator and regional and district councils today to oversee the safety of the salvage operation.

The barge's operator is responsible for the salvage plan, and the work to implement it.

Andrew Saunderson, Maritime NZ National Maritime Controller for the incident, said Maritime NZ’s role was oversee the operator’s plans, implement exclusion zones and coordinate with local authorities. Maritime NZ did not have any role in approving the barge for operation in New Zealand, he said.

"There has been some confusion about Maritime NZ’s role. Foreign flagged vessels like the Manahau do not require Maritime NZ’s approval to come to New Zealand and operate here. The Manahau is flagged to Niue, meaning that’s where it’s registered. One of the actions we can take is to inspect foreign flagged vessels.

"We made one of those inspections of the Manahau when it first arrived in July, we found some deficiencies with it at that time and detained it until they were suitably rectified by the operator. There is an investigation underway but as far as we know, none of those prior deficiencies were factors in the grounding."

"We also had no involvement in the decision to provide Government funding for this vessel. We also do not have the legal authority to prevent a foreign flagged vessel from operating on our coast"

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