Waka protest ends in rough ride
An ocean-sailing waka on a protest mission off the East Coast was likely to face rough conditions as it returned home last night.
But the trust that runs the double-hulled waka says it has no concerns for the safety of the 17 crew on board as they battle stormy weather on their trip back to Napier.
The 22-metre waka Te Matau a Maui left its home port of Napier on Saturday on a mission to deliver a ‘‘face-to-face’’ message to the Amazon Warrior, the world’s largest seismic blasting ship, which is carrying out prospecting work for oil companies Statoil and Chevron about 200 kilometres off the Hawke’s Bay coast.
Te Matau a Maui Voyaging Trust general manager Wayne Macgillivray said the waka intercepted the ship and delivered the message by radio yesterday morning that it was not welcome in local waters.
Te Matau a Maui had not breached a 500-metre exclusion zone in place around the ship, Macgillivray said.
The waka was expected to arrive back at Napier about 6am today.
Macgillivray said that when he contacted the waka about 11am yesterday, captain Deon Wong was expecting 8-12 knot winds on the return journey, but conditions were likely to worsen as much of the country endures stormy conditions whipped up by the remnants of cyclone Debbie.
Macgillivray said there were no concerns for the crew on the double-hulled waka, which was designed for, and well experienced in, ocean sailing conditions.
‘‘Stability is not a problem, that’s for sure,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, Greenpeace’s new protest vessel Taitu arrived in Napier yesterday, where it would wait out the bad weather.
A spokeswoman said the Taitu also wanted to intercept the Amazon Warrior but the vessel’s plans would depend on the weather over the next few days.