Captain's gender had nothing to do with sinking of New Zealand naval ship

10/10/2024 12:51

        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.
        
        The Manawanui, the navy's specialist dive and hydrographic vessel, 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 in life rafts and were later rescued.
        
        New Zealand's first female defence minister, Judith Collins said, "A court of inquiry has been stood up to establish what caused this terrible incident. The one thing that we already know did not cause it is the gender of the ship's captain."
        
        She said she was appalled to see the comments online from "armchair admirals, people who will never have to make decisions which mean life or death for their subordinates."