Crew bailed as captain slept
AN INQUIRY has heard crew on the Tongan ferry Princess Ashika say they bailed water out of the flooding vessel with buckets for two hours before waking the captain.
Captain Maka Tuputupu – who has conceded that he expects to be jailed over the 5 August sinking, in which 75 people were killed – did not reach the ferry’s bridge until shortly before it capsized, a witness told the Royal Commission of Inquiry yesterday.
He had time only to send mayday calls before the vessel sank in calm weather 86km northeast of the Tongan capital Nuku’alofa. The witness confirmed that passengers were given no warning of the ship’s plight.
The inquiry also heard that just before the government-owned Shipping Corp of Polynesia purchased Princess Ashika from Fijian owners, the Fiji Islands Marine Safety Authority had described it as a “maritime disaster waiting to happen”.
Later, Tonga’s own marine surveyors advised that extensive corrosion, blocked scuppers, welded ramps, disguised welding and other faults had made the ship “not seaworthy … and should be stopped”,