The people of Pangai who went out to sea in their boats in the dark and worked all night to rescue about 450 passengers from Tonga's grounded inter-island ferry MV Pulupaki yesterday deserve the highest praise, says one grateful passenger who finally reached her destination safely.

Mrs Agnes Schaumkel (71) was sleeping on the chairs on the top deck when she woke to the terrible sound of metal scraping on the reef. ...“The boat was shaking, and oh gosh I jumped, but fortunately it didn't last very long," she said. "We were aware that the boat had struck something and when I sat up I could tell the deck was not level," she said.

Agnes from Birkenhead, Auckland, New Zealand, who was on her way to Neiafu to visit her family, said there were a few passengers from the Saturday and Sunday night international flights from New Zealand, like her, who were on the ferry because the Royal Tongan Airlines had stopped flying to Vava'u. "There were a lot of babies too, we were told we would have to leave the ship as soon as possible and I could see from the people's faces they were worried, but there was no panic, everyone was calm and quiet and did exactly what the crew said."

Agnes said it was very dark but she wasn't scared because they could see the lights in the distance from the town of Pangai on the island of Lifuka, and the weather was good with no wind. "Then all sorts of boats arrived - small launches and bigger ones...—all of Pangai came out to help us. We were so proud of them!" she said.

The crew helped the women and children into the little boats that were the first to arrive on the scene, and ferried them to Pangai, a mile away, where they were taken care of in the army barracks.

Agnes said she waited until the bottom decks had emptied before her turn came to abandon ship. "By then a bigger launch had arrived and I was allowed to take my bag."

She reached the Pangai wharf at around 6 a.m. in the morning, and was picked up by another ferry the MV 'Olovaha soon afterwards to continue her journey to Vava'u.

"It's a relief to be standing on dry ground," she said on arriving in Neiafu.