Ex -North Otago rugby rep feared killed in ferry tragedy

Sione Aho playing for North Otago in 2008. File photo / Oamaru Mail

A former North Otago rugby representative is believed to have been among those killed in the Tongan ferry disaster.

Sione Aho was believed to have been one of 149 people on board the Princess Ashika when it capsized last Wednesday, 86km northeast of the Tongan capital of Nuku'alofa.

His name was amongst those remembered at a service in Auckland on Sunday.

Two bodies and 54 survivors have been found, while 93 people are presumed drowned after being trapped in the vessel.

They include 33 women and 10 children who were sleeping on the lower indoor decks.

North Otago Rugby Football Union chief executive Colin Jackson told the Otago Daily Times the sinking was tragic.

"Our thoughts go out to Aho's family," he said.

Claims from the ship's captain Maka Tuputupu and others that the Princess Ashika was not seaworthy have been denied by Tonga's Transport Minister Paul Karalus.

Mr Tuputupu said the waves were less than one metre high when the ship sank.

He was on the bridge making mayday calls and was the last person off the ship.

``Water was up around my head. It rolled over when I was still on the bridge.'

He managed to find a hatch and swam several metres to the surface.

He was under pressure to sail even though he feared for the ship's seaworthiness. The Tongan Government should take responsibility for the disaster as it knew there were problems with the ship, he said.

The Princess Ashika was bought by the government-owned Shipping Corporation of Polynesia from Fiji just two months earlier.

The MV Pulupaki was the first ship to arrive at the scene of the sinking and pulled survivors from the water. Its owner, Tu'i Uata, said the Princess Ashika ``was in bad shape', Radio New Zealand reported.

Workers trying to take rust out of it when it first arrived in Tonga were able to punch their hammers through the hull of the lower deck, he said.

Many community leaders have also said the ferry had a poor reputation in Fiji and was to be sold for scrap metal.

But Mr Karalus denied that was the case and said the boat had proven its seaworthiness prior to the tragedy.

``We are confident that the actual (maritime safety) requirements internationally are met and that is subject to audit.'

A team of New Zealand and Australian navy divers did exploratory dives with remote equipment to try to find the wreck on Sunday.

They had hoped to expand that search area yesterday to investigate an oil source but poor weather forced them to abandon the search.

Royal New Zealand Navy commanding officer Lieutenant Commander Andrew McMillan told NZPA the dive team hoped to get out on the water late today but the weather forecast was poor again.

Waves between two and three metres meant they could not launch their boat.

- NZPA