New Zealand’s defence minister issued stinging rebukes of what she said were “vile” and “misogynistic” online remarks by “armchair admirals” about the woman captain of a navy ship that ran aground, caught fire and sank off the coast of Samoa.

“Seriously, it’s 2024,” Judith Collins told reporters on Thursday. “What the hell’s going on here?”

After days of comments on social media directed at the gender of Commander Yvonne Gray, Collins urged the public to “be better”.

Female members of the military had also faced verbal abuse in the street in New Zealand since the ship – one of nine in the country’s navy – was lost on Sunday, Collins said.

New Zealand Navy Sexism
Commander Yvonne Gray, left, was in charge of the vessel which sank (New Zealand Defence Force via AP)

All 75 people on board evacuated to safety with only minor injuries after the vessel ran aground on the reef it was surveying about a mile off the coast of Upolu, Samoa’s most populous island.

The cause of the accident is not known.

“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,” Ms Collins said.

One of the posters was a truck driver from Melbourne, Australia, she added.

“I think that he should keep his comments to people who drive trucks rather than people who drive ships,” Ms Collins said.

“These are the sorts of people I’m calling out and I’m happy to keep calling them out for as long as it takes to stop this behaviour.”

About 20% of New Zealand’s uniformed military members are women. Collins is New Zealand’s first woman defence minister and said she stood alongside Commander Gray and Major General Rose King, the country’s first woman army chief, who assumed her role in June.

“We are all appointed on merit, not gender,” said Ms Collins.

The sinking prompted fears of a major fuel spill. On Thursday, officials in Samoa said while the vessel was leaking oil from three places, the amount was reducing each day and was dissipating quickly due to strong winds in the area.

New Zealand’s government has ordered a military court of inquiry into the episode, which will be led by senior military officers. It will assemble for the first time on Friday.

The specialist dive and hydrographic vessel had been in service for New Zealand since 2019, but was 20 years old and had previously belonged to Norway.