Women and children passengers were trapped inside the enclosed passengers cabin shouting and crying out while holding on to their children as the Princess Ashika capsized, said a surviving crewman who managed to get out alive.

Filipe Tau'ataina, the officer who was on watch when the Princess Ashika capsized and sank on August 5 told the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the sinking of the Ashika this morning that he saw the trapped passengers, a minute before the vessel sank before midnight.

He said that at 8:30pm watchers reported to him that water was inside the crew accommodation, but he admitted he was not very concerned because it had happened during earlier voyages before this final sailing on August 5.

At 10:30pm the witness said he noticed the vessel tilting to the starboard side for an hour while crew tried to bail out water from the cargo deck. It was about two minutes before the vessel sank that the captain instructed him to call everyone to come up to the master station on the bridge deck.

"I went down from wheelhouse to the open area at the passengers deck and called out to the people inside the enclosed cabin. It was not even a second when water came up to where I was standing and there was an electric shock that caused lights to turn on and off and I saw passengers inside sliding and were holding onto their seats," he said.

Crying

The inquiry was told by the witness there was a lot of noise and crying coming from people inside and when the water came up he started to run upstairs and his slipper got stuck in the railings so he went down with the vessel, but managed to get out.

He said he saw passengers one minute before vessel sank, women and children. "I saw them shaking their heads and they were wondering what was happening, at the same time they were grabbing and holding on to their children and babies. There would have been no hope for me too, but I got out in time, and if delayed I could have died too."

No warning of danger

He agreed with counsel Manual Varitimos that at this time it was impossible for the women and children to get out because the vessel had already titled. "They had no lifejackets and were sliding towards port side and thrown on the floor lying on top each other another a minute before it sank," he said.

He was asked why was there no warning given to the likely sinking of the vessel or that they were likely in danger, he said he did not know because the decision is of the master or the captain and it depended on him.