Tonga's Royal Commission investigating Princess Ashika sinking

Updated October 29, 2009 18:02:56

The Royal Commission investigating the sinking of a ferry in Tonga in August, killing 72 people, has revealed damning evidence of the poor condition of the vessel. The Commission has held its third day of hearings in Nukualofa, to establish why the Princess Ashika sank - and to avoid a repeat of the tragedy. The 37 year old vessel sank on August the fifth, a month after it arrived in Tonga from Fiji.

Presenter: Robert McClean
Speakers: Pesi Fonua, the publisher and editor of Matangi Tonga Online; Captain Doug Monks, a marine investigator with New Zealand's Transport Accident Investigation Commission

MCCLEAN: Pesi Fonua is the publisher and editor of the Matangi Tonga Online News. It's covering the royal commission set up in the aftermath of the tragedy.

What's the feeling there in Tonga about this Royal Commission?

FONUA: People are quite surprised with what's coming out, very revealing. This is the first time this sort of inquiry has been made public, the proceeding is similar to a court proceeding.

MCCLEAN: A marine engineer has appeared before the commission, producing damning photos of the vessel's condition. He was one of ten people so far called to give evidence, with a lot more expected between now and the end of the Commission's hearings in December.

Has the captain appeared yet?

FONUA: No, but the Minister and the manager of the company, they were there sort of in and out.

MCCLEAN: Is there a sense in Tonga that the commission will get to the bottom of it, or is it just seen as a bit of a whitewash?

FONUA: I think at first people had a bit of doubt about this commission but so far no one is coming out I think now they see that it was a serious matter, that a commission is going to dig up everything.

MCCLEAN: One person who expects he may have to appear before the three Commissioners is Captain Doug Monks, a marine investigator with New Zealand's Transport Accident Investigation Commission. New Zealand dispatched a team of six after the disaster. Its Transport Accident Investigation Commission was asked by the Tongan Government to investigate the tragedy and prepare a report for the Royal Commission.

Captain Monks says an interim facts only report will be ready in two weeks, ahead of a more detailed report in February.

MONKS: We're still ongoing with the investigation as you'd expect. We've interviewed well over 50 people going into 80 or 90 hours of interviews, we're still processing those interviews and we're also gathering other evidence such as ships diagrams and other information about the vessel. We're going through many aspects of the vessel itself and trying to find out why these people lost their lives. We're trying to get to the bottom of it like everybody else and assist the Royal Commission to the best of our abilities. We're trying to make sure that we do a thorough investigation to make sure this doesn't happen again in the Pacific.

MCCLEAN: He says the sinking of the Princess Ashika is the worst maritime disaster he's seen in his 11 year career as a marine investigator.

MONKS: There are a number of other fatal accidents I have been involved in but this is certainly by far the largest.

MCCLEAN: Can you say at this point if you think there has been any sort of criminal activity involved?

MONKS: That's not our function, we're actually a safety organisation and as such we don't try to ascribe blame, we try to find out why things happen and put in place measures to stop them happening and we hope that's the effect that the report will have.

MCCLEAN: Do you think this accident was preventable?

MONKS: Most accidents are preventable.