Help to buy new ferry 'may be better option for Tonga'

Prime Minister John Key yesterday indicated that New Zealand's priority was to help fund a new ferry for Tonga rather than recovering the sunken ferry Princess Ashika and the bodies of 93 people thought to be trapped inside it.

He said that Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully had sought advice on what private sector capability was available in industries such as the oil and gas industry to salvage the ferry.

Mr Key said he expected feedback on that before he left for Australia this afternoon.

He said he had no idea whether that capability existed or what the cost or timeframe would be.

"We do need to make sure that [in] considering all of our options we also need to consider the future of Tongans and it may be that the best use of resources is in assisting Tonga to purchase a new ship that can make sure that future travel is safe. So we need to weigh up all those factors."

The New Zealand and Australian navies do not have the ability to salvage at the depth of 110m, where the vessel in thought to be lying about 85km northeast of the capital, Nuku'alofa.

The New Zealand vessel HMNZ Manawanui is over the spot where the ferry went down and will send an unmanned vehicle with cameras down today for visual identification of the ship.