Samoan coast where King Charles will visit worries about the future after ship damaged reef

SIUMU, Samoa (AP) — Under clear skies Tuesday, shortly after sunrise in the beachside fishing village of Siumu, Samoa, a dozen men and children prepared their small boats for a day at sea. But underwater, a mile off the coast, a sunken New Zealand naval vessel is forcing them to travel farther away to fish than before, and worrying many in the area about the future.

The village, festooned with Samoan and British flags, is bustling with preparations to host King Charles III and Queen Camilla when the royals arrive on Wednesday for a biennial meeting of leaders from 56 Commonwealth countries. It is the first time a Pacific Island nation has hosted the event.

But Siumu was already busy. New Zealand and Samoan officials have been working for weeks along miles of nearby coastline to monitor and deal with environmental damage caused by the sinking of the HMNZS Manawanui, which ran aground on the reef, caught fire and sank earlier this month.

The 75 people on board the specialist dive and hydrographic vessel — one of nine ships in New Zealand's navy — were all evacuated safely.

Early fears of a catastrophic fuel spill were later quashed by officials who said oil had not gushed from the ship as it sank. But many who live in Siumu and surrounding villages are worried that damage to the reef from the wreck threatens their longer-term survival.

“I don’t know when it’s going to be good again and to (go) back to the normal,” said Netina Malae, who has temporarily closed her small resort at nearby Tafitoala. The colorful fales, or huts, lining the beach sit empty.

Recovery efforts on the reef have focused on removing three large shipping containers left after the sinking, one of them laden with food. New Zealand's military hoped to float the final one — which is empty and damaged — to shore on Tuesday, although winds and tides threatened their efforts.

Meanwhile, fishers who once spent their days where the boat foundered face longer and more expensive trips, they told The Associated Press.

“We doubled the amount of petrol to go far out to get fish,” said Faalogo Afereti Taliulu, citing advice from Samoa’s government that seafood from around the sunken ship should not be eaten. “That’s why that’s our concern. It’s financially affecting us.”

Taliulu and others from the village on Upolu, the largest island of Samoa, fish mostly for tuna. It is their biggest industry and a family affair.

His cousin, Taula Fagatuai, said currents and tides meant the fishers were unsure if seafood they were catching outside the exclusion area was safe to eat. Just what's happening to the fragile marine ecosystem around the vessel, its anchor chain and shipping containers is not yet clear.

“That boat is going to be ruining our reef,” Fagatuai said.

Some in Siumu and surrounding villages are urging New Zealand’s government to pay compensation for their lost earnings, but a swift resolution is unlikely. The cause of the ship’s sinking is unknown and a court of inquiry has been established to investigate the episode.

How much fuel is seeping from the vessel is another contested matter. New Zealand’s Defense Minister Judith Collins said last week that a residual “trickle” of diesel from the ship was evaporating quickly from the ocean's surface. She said the amount of fuel that had spilled into the ocean was less than what had been reported by Samoan officials and that much of what the ship was carrying burned out in the fire.

Samoa's Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa assured reporters last week that there was “no evidence of any leaks" from the vessel's main tanks.

But it's unclear how much diesel flowed from the ship as it sank, Commodore Andrew Brown, the senior national representative for the New Zealand’s military in Samoa, told the AP on Tuesday. Retrieving the remaining fuel from the sunken vessel was a priority, he said.

There are not yet plans to raise the vessel from its resting place.

Officials are monitoring the coastline, the diesel sheen on the water surface and its movement in the currents, Brown said.

Officials from both countries have said there is no visible damage to Samoa's beaches or wildlife. But some in the surrounding villages, who say they have seen oil in the water coating people or fish, are not reassured.

“My children went to the spot where they surf. And when they came back they said that everywhere there is oil,” Malae said. “And then I touched their bodies -- slippery with the oil. So I’m sure that this oil was there.”

The disaster unfolded as Samoa prepared to host the British royals — who will stay at a resort near Siumu's fishing village — and other world leaders at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. Meetings among civil society leaders have already begun, with an official opening ceremony scheduled for Friday.

But uncertainty over the sunken ship has hurt tourism during the event. Malae usually takes visitors out to sea on fishing or surfing trips or to spot turtles. Now, she said, “it's all stopped.”

Graham-McLay reported from Wellington, New Zealand.

A man and woman rest in the shade of a Commonwealth Heads of Government banner in Apia, Samoa, on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

An excavator is used to drag a shipping container onto the beach, left, as another sits on a trailer in the village of Mulivai Safata, Samoa, on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, near where a New Zealand navy ship ran aground and sank on Oct. 6. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

An excavator is used to drag a shipping container onto the beach in the village of Mulivai Safata, Samoa, on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, near where a New Zealand navy ship ran aground and sank on Oct. 6. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Michael Malae paddles into shore after surfing at Sima PJ Beach Fale resort in the village of Tafitoala, Samoa, on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, near where a New Zealand navy ship ran aground and sank on Oct. 6. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Netina Malae talks about how a New Zealand navy ship ran aground and sank on Oct. 6, near her Sima PJ Beach Fale resort in the village of Tafitoala, Samoa, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Netina Malae walks past a hut at her Sima PJ Beach Fale resort in the village of Tafitoala, Samoa, on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, near where a New Zealand navy ship ran aground and sank on Oct. 6. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Netina Malae stands in the shade at her Sima PJ Beach Fale resort in the village of Tafitoala, Samoa, on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, near where a New Zealand navy ship ran aground and sank on Oct. 6. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

In this photo provided by the New Zealand Defence Force, divers survey the area around HMNZS Manawanui on the southern coast of Upulo, Samoa, after the Manawanui ran aground and sank on Oct. 6. (AC Jese Somerville/New Zealand Defence Force via AP)

In this photo provided by the New Zealand Defence Force, divers survey the area around HMNZS Manawanui on the southern coast of Upulo, Samoa, after the Manawanui ran aground and sank on Oct. 6. (AC Jese Somerville/New Zealand Defence Force via AP)

Deputy Chief of the New Zealand Navy, Commodore Andrew Brown comments in Apia, Samoa, on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, about the sinking of HMNZS Manawanui. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

A young girl swims at the dock where fishing boats launch in the village of Siumu, Samoa, on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Fishermen from in the village of Siumu, Samoa, prepare to leave on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, to fish near the New Zealand navy ship HMNZS Manawanui thats sank not far from the village. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Fishermen Taula Fagatuai, left, and Faalogo Afereti Taliulu talk on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, about the New Zealand navy ship HMNZS Manawanui that sank not far from them in the village of Siumu, Samoa. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

People from the village of Siumu, Samoa, work on decorating the entrance of their village on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, as they prepare for the arrival of King Charles III. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Women and children gather near a sign in a village near in Apia, Samoa, on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, that refers to their sponsored country of India ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meetings starting later in the week. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

A handmade sign recognizes Papua New Guinea as the sponsored country of a village near in Apia, Samoa, on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meetings starting later in the week. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Children try their luck fishing off a dock next to a fish market in Apia, Samoa, on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

A person pays for his purchase at the fish market in Apia, Samoa, on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Taula Fagatuai, right, sells the mahi mahi and bonito he caught at the fish market in Apia, Samoa, on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

The Malaysian flags flies at their sponsored village of Lepea, the village of Samoa's first prime minister Fiame Mata'afa Faumuina Mulinu'u II and the current prime minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa Lepea, on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, ahead of Commonwealth Heads of Government meetings starting later in the week. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

People from the village of Siumu, Samoa, work on decorating the entrance of their village on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, as they prepare for the arrival of King Charles III. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

People gather together at a meeting place near a portrait of King Charles III and Queen Camilla in the village of Siumu, Samoa, on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, as the village prepares for the arrival of the royals. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

A car turns off a road decorated with flags and a portrait in the village of Siumu, Samoa, on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, as the village prepares for the arrival of King Charles III. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

A car drives on a road decorated with flags and a portrait in the village of Siumu, Samoa, on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, as the village prepares for the arrival of King Charles III. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

People from the village of Siumu, Samoa, work on decorating the entrance of their village on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, as they prepare for the arrival of King Charles III. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Painted portraits of King Charles III and Queen Camilla are displayed at a school in Apia, Samoa, on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, before a visit of the royals ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meetings starting later in the week. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Colorful fish are displayed for sale at the fish market in Apia, Samoa, on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on Tuesday on his 11th visit to the region since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.

He is expected to meet with top officials as the United States looks to revive cease-fire efforts after the killing of top Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, but so far none of the warring parties appear to be backing down on longstanding demands.

Israel is still at war with Hamas more than a year after the militant group’s Oct. 7 attack, and with Hezbollah in Lebanon, where it launched a ground invasion earlier this month. Israel is also expected to strike Iran after its ballistic missile attack on Oct. 1.

Blinken landed just hours after Hezbollah launched a barrage of rockets into central Israel, setting off air raid sirens in the country’s most populated areas but causing no apparent damage or injuries. The Israeli military said it intercepted most of the five projectiles, with one landing in an open area.

The military said another 15 projectiles were fired from Lebanon into northern Israel at around the same time.

The United States, Egypt and Qatar have brokered months of talks between Israel and Hamas, trying to strike a deal in which the militants would release dozens of hostages in return for an end to the war, a lasting cease-fire and the release of Palestinian prisoners.

But both Israel and Hamas accused each other of making new and unacceptable demands over the summer, and the talks ground to a halt in August.

The U.S. has also tried to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah, but those efforts fell apart as tensions spiked last month with a series of Israeli strikes that killed the militant group’s top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and most of his senior commanders.

Israel is currently waging another major operation in already-devastated northern Gaza, which has killed hundreds of Palestinians over the last two weeks according to local health authorities, who do not say how many were combatants.

In Lebanon, Israel has carried out waves of heavy airstrikes across southern Beirut and the country’s south and east, areas where Hezbollah has a strong presence. Hezbollah has fired hundreds of rockets, missiles and drones into Israel, including some that have reached the country’s populous center.

Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking another 250 hostage. Around 100 of the captives are still held in Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.

Israel’s offensive has killed over 42,000 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded tens of thousands, according to local health authorities, who do not say how many were combatants. It has also caused massive devastation across the territory and displaced around 90% of its population of 2.3 million.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken waves as he boards a plane en route to the Middle East as he departs Joint Base Andrews, Md., Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)

Secretary of State Antony Blinken waves as he boards a plane en route to the Middle East as he departs Joint Base Andrews, Md., Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)

Secretary of State Antony Blinken walks to board a plane en route to the Middle East as he departs Joint Base Andrews, Md., Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)

Secretary of State Antony Blinken walks to board a plane en route to the Middle East as he departs Joint Base Andrews, Md., Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)

Secretary of State Antony Blinken walks to board a plane en route to the Middle East as he departs Joint Base Andrews, Md., Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)

Secretary of State Antony Blinken walks to board a plane en route to the Middle East as he departs Joint Base Andrews, Md., Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)

Secretary of State Antony Blinken waves as he boards a plane en route to the Middle East as he departs Joint Base Andrews, Md., Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)