Captain says Tongan ferry was unseaworthy 

Source: Royal New Zealand NavyTonga ferry Princess Ashika underwater

The MV Princess Ashika ferry was unseaworthy and unsuitable for Tongan waters, the ship's captain, Viliami Tuputupu, has told Tonga's Royal Commission inquiring into its sinking last August.

The commission has reconvened for its final sittings before the end of the year to probe why the inter island ferry sank while sailing to Tonga's northern islands - killing more than 70 people - less than three months after it was purchased in Fiji, the ABC reported.

During sittings last month, the commission heard evidence questioning the seaworthiness of the ferry, the process behind its purchase, and the emergency procedures on board the night it went down.

Tuputupu says the vessel was unseaworthy and he was concerned about its design not being suitable for Tongan waters.

He was aware that it was an offence or against the law for a master of a ship to take an unseaworthy ship to sea, but said the Shipping Corporation of Polynesia that employed him wanted the ship to sail.

He depended on a marine certificate that allowed the ship to sail.

The captain blamed the Marine and Ports authority for the sinking because it had responsibility to stop the vessel from sailing.

"I am the one who sail the vessel. If they say `stop', I stop. And if they say `sail', I must sail," he says.

Kahungunu Afeaki, a lawyer for Tonga's former transport minister Paul Karalus, who resigned within days of the sinking, put to Tuputupu that on the night the vessel sunk, he and the crew failed to pay necessary attention.

Tuputupu agreed.

The commission has hearings continuing into next week, before breaking over Christmas, and resuming in the third week of January.