Vessel unseaworthy & owner had ‘no respect for people’

Radio New Zealand International

A COMMISSION OF INQUIRY into the sinking of the ferry Rabaul Queen has found it was not seaworthy, unsafe and should never have departed on its final voyage.

The commission's report, obtained by Radio New Zealand International, says between 142 and 161 people died when the Rabaul Queen sank between the island of New Britain and the mainland city of Lae on 2 February.

It cannot give an exact number of passengers, because the vessel did not have a clear manifest.

The report says weather and sea conditions at the time of the capsize were gale force and the ship should not have been where it was in the conditions.

The commission found the ship's owner, Captain Peter Sharp, demonstrated that he had little or no respect for people, including those in authority.

It says this "gross disrespect" was reflected in the "appalling and inhumane conditions" in which he was prepared to let Rabaul Queen passengers travel and may explain in part why he was prepared to compromise the safety of passengers on board his ships.

The report also found a number of failures by the Maritime Safety Authority, including that it allowed itself to be intimidated by Mr Sharp.

Comments

[Jerome Aiake]

Mr Sharp's ships were around providing services for quite a long time in PNG. His company contributed to PNG through tax and service delivery and was operating publicly.

Everyone was benefiting and did not know that one day a tragic accident like this would happen.

Now everyone is blaming Mr Sharp. If there were routine checks carried out by the Maritime Safety Authority then they would have declared Rabaul Queen unseaworthy and would have grounded it before the accident happened.

One thing I dislike is the atitude of turning a blind eye to a problem. When worst comes to worst, we start blaming but the damage done will be unmeasurable.

Can someone tell us if the Martime Safety Authority ever carried out inspections on the ship before that accident.

If no then they should be the first respondent to the case followed by Mr Sharp.

[Kaludia Pirit]

I agree with the Radio New Zealand International report.

Mr Sharp seems to have no respect for PNG citizens; the only thing of concern is his business and the money earned by his business.

He should have cancelled the Rabaul Queen's trip to look after the safety of the people.

Also it's time the Maritime Safety Authorty pulled up its socks.

[Fidelis Lai]

Captain Peter Sharp seems to be demonstrating disrespect towards our countryman which they do not deserve.

Meanwhile, unfortunatly, they lost their lives in this tragic incident.

How will the Commission Of Inquiry now deal with the owner of the vessel and the maritime safety officers because I consider them both responsible to the cause of this tragedy.

[Amy Kuli]

I refer to the article 'Vessel unseaworthy and owner had no respect for people'.

I think the responsibility comes back to the owner and the maritime safety officers in ensuring that the vessel is safe for the people to travel.

It is a tragic event and should be given a great concern whether it was an engineering or a mechanical fault.

We all must understand that these are human beings and deserve the right to life and to know the safety in this case on the vessel before boarding.