Rescuers on the Chinese ship Zhonghe pluck 29 survivors of the Rabaul Queen ferry disaster from the sea off Papua New Guinea. Photo: Mopays

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Starza Paul in Port Moresby

About 170 passengers have been rescued at Magarida, in Papua New Guinea’s Central Province, after bad weather forced a ferry to abandon its planned trip to Port Moresby following last week’s Rabaul Queen tragedy.

The ferry, Kimbe Queen,  also reported to be a sister ship of the Rabaul Queen that sank off Finschhafen last Thursday morning, was en route to Port Moresby from Alotau carrying mostly students when the skipper forced the ship to take refuge at Walai Island off Kupiano.

Captain Tommy Joseph was reported to have slowed the speed of the ship and avoided a “certain disaster” that would have seen two major shipping tragedies happening within a few hours of each other. Read more »

Princess Ashika captain Makahokovalu Tuputupu (left) leaves court yesterday with his lawyer Sifa Tu’utafaiva. Photo: Taimi Media Network

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Taimi Media Network in Nuku’alofa

The jury found all four men accused in Tonga’s 2009 Princess Ashika ferry tragedy guilty of manslaughter yesterday after deliberating for nearly 11 hours.

The men – including New Zealander John Jonesse – were behind bars last night awaiting sentence next week.

The jury foreman delivered the guilty verdict on all 27 charges about 10.20am. Read more »

Press Release:
The Kingdom Of Tonga.

The Prime Minister, Dr. the Hon Feleti Vaka’uta Sevele, today announced that the Governments of Tonga, New Zealand, and Australia have finalised the charter agreement for an interim ferry service in Tonga which will commence in April 2010, once the charter vessel, the Ajang Subuh, has arrived in Nuku’alofa from Malaysia. Read more »

Princess Ashika disaster's death toll of 74 passengers and crew made it the nation's worst shipping tragedy. Photo: TNews.

Pacific Scoop:
By Pesi Fonua in Nuku’alofa

Tonga’s Prime Minister, Dr Feleti Sevele, has been censured for making an “inappropriate” personal remark to counsel assisting, in a closing statement he gave to the Princess Ashika disaster inquiry following an intense session of questioning that continued until midnight on Tuesday. Read more »

The Princess Ashika death toll of 74 passengers and crew made it Tonga's worst shipping tragedy. Photo: TNews.

Pacific.Scoop
By Josephine Latu

Potentially damning testimonies from a welder and an engineer were presented this week to Tonga’s Royal Commission of Inquiry charged with investigating sinking of the Princess Ashika interisland ferry.
Read more »