Name HMNZS Manawanui (A09) Status Active Beam 9.5 m (31 ft) Draft 3.2 m | Commissioned 1988 Displacement 911 tonnes standard Length 43 m | |
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Builder Cochrane Shipbuilders Limited, Selby | ||
HMNZS Manawanui (A09) was commissioned in 1988 as a diving support vessel for the Royal New Zealand Navy. Originally she was built as a diving support vessel, the Star Perseus, for North Sea oil rig operations.
Manawanui is the third ship with this name to serve in the New Zealand Navy. Manawanui is a Māori word meaning "to be brave or steadfast".
Manawanui has a capability to hold station over a fixed position. She has a triple lock recompression chamber, a crane with 13 tonne lifting capacity, wet diving bell and a small engineering workshop. She also has limited deck cargo carrying capacity.
The divers of the New Zealand Navy who work onboard Manawanui are trained for deep diving with mixed gases, underwater demolition and unexploded ordnance disposal.
An ROV operated from the Manawanui returned photos of the wreck of the MV Princess Ashika, which sank near Ha'apai, Tonga on 5 August 2009.