The New Zealand Armed Forces today announced the rescue of 75 occupants of a navy oceanographic vessel that ran aground on a reef off the Samoa and submerged while performing a survey mission for reefs in the area.

“The incident occurred (yesterday) Saturday night,” the armed forces explained, clarifying that the 75 people on board the ocean liner “abandoned it in lifeboats” or were rescued by alongside vessels after the ship ran aground on the reef.

The ship in question, the HMNZS Manawanui, ran aground on a reef off Upolu, Samoa Islands, in the South Pacific Ocean.

Videos broadcast by local media showed smoke billowing from the ship before it sank.

“The 75 crew members and passengers of the HMNZS Manawanui arrived safely (…) in Samoa,” Rear Admiral Shane Ardell noted in a press release issued by the armed forces.

The exact cause of the wreck is unclear and an investigation is underway.

Rescue crews had to battle currents and winds that pushed the boats with the rescued people towards the reefs, the swell “made the rescue operation particularly arduous”, always according to the New Zealand military statement.

A P-8A Poseidon aircraft was deployed in a reconnaissance and coordination role.

HMNZS Manawanui conducted an oceanographic survey approximately one nautical mile off the coast in desert conditions.

Built in 2003, the oceanographic vessel entered service in 2019 in New Zealand, which bought it from Norway for $103 million New Zealand dollars in 2018.

Authorities in the Samoan islands had moved to issue a severe weather warning on the southern coast of Upolos over the weekend. Tides and waves of up to four meters were forecast.

The rescued people are expected to be picked up by an Air Force transport, according to New Zealand Navy chief Rear Admiral Garin Golding. Some suffered minor injuries.

The New Zealand Navy was already facing problems due to a shortage of personnel. Three of its nine ships are tied up in ports.