New Zealand's defense minister has called out "vile" and "misogynistic" criticism of the female captain of a navy ship that sank off the coast of Samoa on Sunday.

"Seriously, it's 2024," Judith Collins told reporters on Thursday. "What the hell's going on here? Where's a bit of decency?"

HMNZS Manawanui ran aground on a reef it was surveying about a mile off the coast of Upolu, Samoa's most populous island, before catching fire.

The precise cause of the accident remains unclear but Commander Yvonne Gray ordered the vessel's 75 passengers to abandon ship. All were evacuated safely before the ship sank.

Gender-based criticism rejected 

"The one thing that we already know did not cause it is the gender of the ship's captain, a woman with 30 years' naval experience who, on the night, made the call to get her people to safety," Collins said.

She added that 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."

The minister said that mocking social media criticism related to Gray's gender had spilled onto the streets of New Zealand, where female members of the military had faced verbal abuse.

"This is outrageous behavior and New Zealand is not known for this and we are better than it," she said. "We are all appointed on merit, not gender."

About 20% of New Zealand's military personnel are women, including Major General Rose King, the country's first female army chief, who assumed her role in June. Collins herself is the country's first female defense minister.

A military inquiry into the sinking of HMNZS Manawanui, the navy's specialist dive and hydrographic vessel, will assemble for the first time on Friday, led by senior officers.

New Zealand and Samoan officials have also been discussing how best to remove the ship's anchor and three large containers from the reef without further damaging the fragile marine ecosystem.

mf/lo (AP, Reuters)