Captain of Tongan Ferry arrested.

The captain of a Tongan ferry has been arrested, months after his vessel sank causing the loss of 74 lives.Viliami Tuputupu was charged with knowingly sailing an unseaworthy vessel, radio stations in Tonga, New Zealand and Australia reported.

The arrest follows that of businessman John Jonesse for alleged irregularities in buying the ship.

The Princess Ashika sank on 5 August while travelling from the Tonga capital of Nuku'alofa to an outlying island.

Many passengers were trapped on the passenger deck after the ferry suddenly overturned and sank.

Levels of failure

Mr Tuputupu admitted before a commission of inquiry into the sinking that he knew the ferry was unseaworthy, but said he had no authority to stop it sailing.


"The Ashika tragedy represents one of the saddest losses to have befallen our beloved kingdom... one over which every Tongan with no exception has mourned or continues to mourn"


Tongan Prime Minister Feleti Seveli

The commission has since heard that neither the operator of the vessel nor Tonga's Ministry of Transport had carried out thorough checks on the ferry when it was bought in Fiji and before it went into Tongan service in July last year.

John Jonesse, the suspended chief executive of the ferry's operator, the Shipping Corporation of Polynesia, was charged last week with forgery over documentation used in the purchase of the ferry.

Tongan Prime Minister Feleti Seveli apologised earlier this week for his government's role in putting the unsafe ferry into service.

"I, as prime minister, apologise most sincerely for the failings which have happened at various levels of government and of the Shipping Corporation of Polynesia," Mr Sevele told the ongoing commission of inquiry.



"The Ashika tragedy represents one of the saddest losses to have befallen our beloved kingdom... one over which every Tongan with no exception has mourned or continues to mourn."

The inquiry has been told that the Princess Ashika was filled with rust and seawater poured into the ship's cargo hold before the sinking.

Mr Tuputupu faces up to 15 years' imprisonment if convicted and remains in custody while his wife attempts to arrange bail.


The Princess Ashika, costing approx $300,000 (£195,000), was bought with funds given by China to the government of Tonga, the royal commission has been told.