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Unconfirmed reports claim sea water entered the cargo hold of the MV Otuanga’ofa while she was sailing between Ha’apai and Vava’u this week.
A video clip purportedly showing sea water seeping into the hold of the ferry has been circulating on Facebook.
Kaniva News has been unable to independently verify the contents of the video.
We have contacted the Minister of Transport to confirm the story.
Hon. Toumo’ua was asked to confirm whether it was true the ferry in question was MV Otuanga’ofa.
He was asked to explain what had happened.
He was also asked what work had been done to resolve the alleged leak.
The Tongan weather service has issued weather warnings for Tongatapu, ‘Eua, Vava’u and Ha’apai this week. It warned that strong winds could cause damage, heavy rainfalls and rough seas.
Former chief mate and captain Ngaloafe ‘Ulupano, who shared the video to his Facebook account, told Kaniva News sea water was obviously entering the ship through the front ramp or the side doors.
He claimed this could be caused by the failure of the watertight doors, which were designed to prevent the sea water from entering the ship and to withstand water pressure from both sides and the front.
Ulupano, who is currently in Auckland and often visited the Otuanga’ofa crew when the ship was dry docked at Auckland wharf, said he was aware that the Otuangaofa’s watertight doors had been checked in Auckland before the ferry returned to Tonga early this month.
Ulupano said the situation was dangerous if it was not fixed immediately. He said it was hard to believe a leak could occur only a month after the ferry completed a six month maintenance programme.
Kaniva News makes no imputation or allegation concerning the quality of the work done on the Otuanga’ofa during her stay in Auckland.
The MV Otuanga’ofa was donated to the Friendly Islands Shipping Agency Ltd by the Japanese government in 2010.
She was estimated at the time be worth about TP$40 million. Since then she has provided passenger and cargo services to the Vava’u and Haapai groups.
She was previously dry docked in Suva for maintenance in 2018.
When she arrived in Auckland September she was told to stay out of New Zealand waters for three weeks while the hull was cleaned because it posed a biosecurity threat.
The Agency had denied allegations reported in March saying that it spent about TP$9 million on the vessel’s maintenance in Auckland, including costs for painting, welding, general maintenance, replacement parts, insurance, crew costs and medical bills. It did not say how much has it cost.
Tonga’s Minister of Transport told a press conference in late January that when the ferry arrived in New Zealand some unforeseen mechanical and electrical issues were identified which were not addressed when the ‘Otuanga’ofa was being repaired in Fiji in 2018.
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