WELLINGTON - A New Zealand navy ship ran aground near the southern coast of Upolu in Samoa, with all 75 crew and passengers on board rescued in the early hours of Sunday.

The multi-purpose maritime support ship HMNZS Manawanui, with a displacement of 5,741 tons, was grounded off Samoa on Saturday while conducting a hydrographic survey one nautical mile from shore, said a statement of the New Zealand Defense Force (NZDF).

The ship was known to have capsized and was below the surface, with smoke visible from the ship, the statement said.

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The crew and passengers were evacuated into lifeboats after the incident. Numerous vessels responded to provide assistance, with rescuers battling currents and winds and challenges of swells. A Royal New Zealand Air Force P-8A Poseidon was also deployed to assist, it said.

The exact cause of the grounding will need further investigation, said Maritime Component Commander Commodore Shane Arndell.

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Built in 2003, the 84.7-meter-long, 18-meter-wide, 6.8-meter-draft ship has been in service with the Royal New Zealand Navy since 2019, and is primarily used for specialized diving, salvage and hydrographic missions around New Zealand and in the southwest Pacific Ocean, and can also support missions to clear explosive remnants of war in the South Pacific, according to the NZDF.