After the Captain of the ill-fated vessel MV Princess Ashika, Viliami Makahokovalu Tuputupu, was jailed last week for knowingly taking excess passengers on MV Otuanga’ofa while his Certificate of Competency had expired, social media users took to the web to weigh in.
Some Facebook users mistakenly attributed the penalty to Tuputupu’s Princess Ashika court case in 2011.
“Is that Ashika case still on trial,” a commenter asked in Tongan.
“Why haven’t the top leaders of the former government been brought to justice?” another commenter asked. They believe former Prime Minister Feleti Sevele should face charges for his alleged involvement in approving the purchase of the “unseaworthy” ferry.
One commenter voiced his opinion that it is unlawful to impose penalties on an individual for the same offense multiple times, thinking that Tuputupu had been charged again for his role on MV Ashika.
The commenters were referring to when Tuputupu went on trial in 2009 for the sinking of MV Ashika, which claimed 74 lives that same year.
In that case, Tuputupu gave evidence in court and said he knew the MV Princess Ashika was unseaworthy but sailed anyway. He said he relied on information given to him by the Marine and Ports Division, alleging that the vessel was not safe to operate, but he never believed it would sink on August 5.
Tuputupu, was handed a four-year jail term in 2011 after being convicted of manslaughter by negligence and of sending an unseaworthy ship to sea, but served only six months.
A Royal Commission inquiry into the sinking found the ferry was declared unseaworthy in 1985 and was never supposed to sail in deep water.
Nevertheless, the government-owned operator, the Shipping Corporation of Polynesia (SCP), bought the vessel from a Fijian firm in 2009.
Recent sentencing
Tuputupu was sentenced on November 18, 2024, and returned to Hu’atolitoli prison after he was found guilty of violating maritime regulations by setting sail with excessive passengers on board, significantly exceeding the vessel’s capacity.
He was convicted of two charges related to his role on the government’s MV Otuanga’ofa vessel.
One was regarding permission he gave as Master of the MV Otuanga’ofa to travel with 420 passengers instead of its limit of 400.
The other was after he operated the MV Otuanga’ofa without a proper certificate.
