New Zealand’s Defense Minister has clapped back at claims that the appointment of a female to captain a $61 million navy ship ultimately led to its sinking.
The navy’s specialist dive and hydrographic vessel, The Manawanui, sank on Sunday on a reef off the coast of Samoa that it was surveying. Its 75 crew and passengers were ordered to abandon the vessel on life rafts and were later rescued. The sinking marked New Zealand’s first ship lost since World War II and an investigation has been launched into what led to its demise.
The incident sparked debate online about whether the captain, Commander Yvonne Gray, was hired, in part due to her gender and sexuality in accordance with diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) ideology.
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