Reports from Manu’a say the MV Manu’atele slammed into the Ofu dock during strong winds and high swells yesterday.
The body of the MV Manu’atele is reported to have been damaged, though it is unknown if it was only cosmetic damage.
The dock, which has been awaiting repairs, was cracked in several parts and there was exposed metal rebar.
The Manu’atele Community Worldwide Face Book Page reports that
ASPA, Public Works, Port Administration employees, and Happy Trucking Company employees, as well as villagers rallied together as first responders to assist the crew in stabilizing the vessel and minimize further infrastructure damage to the harbor.
The dock cement cracked as the MV Manu’atele slammed into it.
A bulldozer tractor was used to tighten up mooring lines on both sides of the vessel to help secure and keep it steady.
Villagers assisted in trying to prevent the vessel from swaying into the dock once the lines were tightened, but strong winds and rough seas from the effects of Cyclone Tino’s path moving westward in the South Pacific was too powerful.
Villagers searched for spare tires to help create a buffer between the vessel and the dock to absorb the vessel impact, but it was to no avail.
No one was injured and the crew is safe.
A Port Administration official said the Manu’atele left Tutuila Wednesday on a fuel run and was unable to go to Ta’u after it dropped off supplies in Ofu, because the winds were too strong and the seas were rough.
As of this morning the Manu’atele was still in Ofu.
Photos by Faleh Faiai Livi
