By 1987 the small diving tender operated by the Navy was clearly inadequate and a search was made for an alternative vessel.  This was found in a surplus diving support vessel from a North Sea oil rig.  The STAR PERSEUS was renamed MANAWANUI and commissioned into the Royal New Zealand Navy in April 1988.  With only a small crew, the new acquisition was sailed to New Zealand in its original colours, being painted grey after it arrived in Auckland.