New Zealand's government has paid Samoa 10m Samoan Tala (NZD 6m; £2.6m) after one of its naval ships crashed into a reef in Samoan waters before catching fire and sinking last year.
HMNZS Manawanui started leaking oil into the ocean after it sank, with reports of sea turtles dying and slicks appearing on nearby Samoan beaches.
New Zealand's Foreign Minister Winston Peters said the payment had been made at Samoa's request.
HMNZS Manawanui was the first ship New Zealand lost at sea since World War Two. It was one of nine ships in the country's small naval fleet, and had been surveying an area of sea floor that had not been mapped in decades when it ran aground.
All 75 people aboard were successfully rescued from the vessel as it began listing off the coast of the Samoan island Upolu exactly a year ago. Despite being seen billowing smoke as it went down, Samoan officials later said that not all its fuel had burnt off and the ship had leaked oil from various locations.
Since the ship's grounding, HMNZS Manawanui has remained on the reef, with diesel fuel, oil, and other pollutants removed while a New Zealand naval team worked on clearing debris.
Peters stated that the New Zealand government was continuing to collaborate with Samoa on decisions regarding the ship's future, stressing the need to minimize environmental impacts and support local communities affected by the incident.
Additionally, an inquiry into the incident identified a series of human errors as contributing factors, including a failure to disengage the ship's autopilot.
Following the incident, social media trolls targeted the ship's female captain, blaming her gender for the mishap. This trolling was subsequently condemned by New Zealand's defense minister.
