NZ rushes to Tonga’s aid

A Defence Force ship is destined for Tonga this afternoon carrying fresh water and supplies, after debris and ash on the runway delayed the delivery of aid by air.

Fresh water was set to be delivered to the islands on a Hercules C-130, but a surveillance flight over the Ha’apai islands and Tongatapu by the Air Force P-3 Orion yesterday morning showed the runway and port to be badly damaged. Instead, a Royal New Zealand Navy supply ship, the $500 million HMNZS Aotearoa, will head north before embarking on its original journey to McMurdo Station in Antarctica in about 10 days.

Tonga is in dire need of fresh water after Hunga-Tonga-HungaHa’apai erupted around 5.30pm on Saturday (NZ time), causing a tsunami and affecting an estimated 8000 inhabitants.

Rear Admiral James Gilmour, Commander Joint Forces New Zealand, yesterday received reports that clearing ash from the runway was proving to be ‘‘a real challenge’’, and may not be complete until late yesterday at the earliest.

‘‘To clear off the runway, that’s going to take some days, so that’s going to complicate things.’’

With the flight delayed, HMNZS Aotearoa was going to set sail despite receiving no official request from Tonga for its assistance. It was better for the ship to be 300 nautical miles north when the request came in than still docked in Auckland, Gilmour said. On board would be ‘‘reverse osmosis’’ plants able to produce fresh water from seawater, and other urgent supplies.

‘‘We try to imagine what those things might be. I imagine water security, food security, shelter, hygiene.’’

Tonga has strict Covid protocols for arrivals and is currently only generally open to citizens and permanent residents of the kingdom.

Gilmour said there had been no indication that had changed. ‘‘I’ve got no indication there has been an alteration to . . . no boots on the ground, no contact approach,’’ he said.

The military would be able to sustain a deployment to Tonga for a short time despite the concurrent Covid commitment, Gilmour said. More than 1000 personnel were tied up with the Covid-19 response, mostly on MIQ duties. Communication has been severely limited, as the fibre-optic underwater cable connecting Tonga to Fiji is believed to have broken.