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Tonga ferry Princess Ashika underwater - Source: Royal New Zealand Navy -
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The Tongan ferry that sank killing 72 passengers had been repaired at night to stop people querying its seaworthiness, a letter from a port official has claimed.
A leaked letter from the head of Tonga's Ports Authority to Australia's prime minister claims that the boat was not seaworthy, was uninsured and had huge holes in the side of it.
The revelations confirm widely-held suspicions among Tongans that the boat, bought from Fiji just six weeks before the tragedy, was not fit for use.
The letter, written by the ports authority's Commander Lupeti Vi just six days after the sinking, claimed the boat had not received certification of sea worthiness, implying it was uninsured.
The commander also alleged that the manner in which the boat was purchased was corrupt and that it hadn't been fit to sail even one kilometre at the time.
Mateni Tapueluelu, the editor of the Tongan newspaper Kele'a that published the letter, said the commander had learnt the boat was mended in darkness to stop suspicions about its condition.
"The vessel was welded in the night and this was probably a way of trying to hide just how rusty the vessel was," the journalist told Radio New Zealand.
The letter also warned of possible bloodshed if the truth about the boat's state was made public.
Commander Vi said he was unhappy the private letter had been published but was not worried about it because it was "the truth".
"Whatever the consequences of that, it's up to the people to decide," he told the radio station.
The shock findings only solidify suspicions among Tongans that the boat was dangerous and should never have been bought by the government-owned Shipping Corporation of Polynesia Ltd.
But the prime minister, Fred Sevele, has declined to comment on the matter until the completion of a Royal Commission of Inquiry currently underway.
The 34-year-old Princess Ashika sank 86km northeast of the capital Nuku'alofa late on August 5.
A total of 54 people, all men, survived the disaster, reporting that the boat lurched suddenly and sank in seconds.
Most of the 72 missing are believed to be trapped inside the ship which is lying in a watery grave 110 metres deep.
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