New Zealand's Defence Minister on Thursday publicly criticised online trolling of the female captain of a naval vessel that sunk at the weekend, saying while the cause of the incident was unknown, it had nothing to do with the captain’s gender.

A fuel spill is highly probable after a New Zealand navy ship grounded caught fire and sank off the coast of Samoa said acting Prime Minister Tuala Tevaga Iosefo Ponifasio

Samoa’s deputy prime minister says there's no evidence of a major fuel spill on a Samoan reef after a New Zealand navy ship sank.

A New Zealand navy ship sank one mile off the coast of Samoa on Sunday, prompting fears of an environmental and ecological disaster. The roughly $60 million ship, the HMNZS Manawanui, was conducting a hydrographic reef survey on Saturday when it ran aground near the southern coast of Upolu,

New Zealand will hold a court of inquiry into the loss of the ship, which was one of nine in its navy. The cause of the disaster is not known.

Government officials in New Zealand are investigating the first sinking of a naval ship since World War II. HPR’s Derrick Malama has more in the Pacific News Minute.

Royal New Zealand Navy hydrographic dive and survey ship HMNZS Manawanui (A09) sank on Sunday after running aground off the southern coast of the island of Upolu, Samoa. The ship ran aground on Saturday evening while on a survey mission in the area.

Samoa on Tuesday said it had detected and contained "small leakages" from a New Zealand navy vessel wrecked on a reef while carting almost 1,000 tonnes of diesel.