There was nothing extraordinary about the weather conditions in the area where the MV Princess Ashika was sailing on its final voyage on August 5, 2009, and it was fairly normal conditions in Tonga, confirmed the Director of Meteorology for the Ministry of Transport 'Ofa Fa'anunu on November 13.

The witness, who was summoned to give evidence to the Commission of Inquiry into the sinking of the MV Princess Ashika, provided reports of weather conditions for vessels in Tongan waters on August 4 to 5 and confirmed them to be accurate.

On being questioned by Assisting Counsel to the Commission, Manuel Varitimos, he confirmed that the weather forecast for August 5 was fairly consistent with normal conditions in Tonga and the weather conditions in relation to where the Ashika was sailing on August 5 were fairly normal. There was nothing extraordinary about the weather, he said.

He explained in producing forecasts they used many sources, which included observations from vessels, satellite imagery, observations from land stations and from vessels at sea.

The Meteorology Centre also receives information from Regional Forecasting Centers that provides model information and numeral weather predictions.