A senior marine surveyor in Tonga has told the inquiry into the August sinking of the Princess Ashika that after surveying the vessel he deemed it unfit to sail and called on the acting Director of Tonga’s Marine Division to stop it.
Onesi Tu’ifua worked for the Marines and Ports Division and with a team conducted an extensive survey on July 2, a day after the ferry arrived from Fiji.
Radio New Zealand International reports Tu’ifua told the enquiry that the team compiled a list of deficiencies to be rectified before the vessel sailed, particularly the need for the bow and stern ramps to be watertight.
He said they begged the acting director of the Marine Division, Viliami Tu-ipulotu, to stop the boat sailing until the work was done.
Tu’ifua said he was concerned about the corrosion and felt the vessel could not handle the distances involved in trips to the outer islands. He said he continued to tell staff in his office that the boat should not go to sea and called on Tu’ipulotu on more than ten occasions throughout July to stop the Ashika sailing.
He also told the inquiry there was no sign that the ship had a public address system. Tu’ifua said the requirements of the survey were never completed to the surveyors’ satisfaction.
He said when he heard that the vessel had sailed on July 3 he confronted the Marine director and the then CEO of the Shipping Corporation of Polynesia, John Jonesse, asking them to recall the vessel but they wouldn’t.
The Royal commission of inquiry was told last week that the Ashika was classed as a ‘smooth water vessel’ and was never suitable for open waters in Tonga.
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