The final report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Sinking of the MV Princess Ashika on August 5 was this morning presented to HM King George Tupou V at Consular House, and later at mid-day to the Chairman of the Whole House Committee of the Tongan Legislative Assembly, Noble Lasike.

The report will not be released to the public until the Privy Council decides to release it.

There was public interest to see the reaction of the king when he was presented with the report of the inquiry into Tonga's worst sea disaster in living memory, but that was not possible as the security around Polota'ane, Consular House was strict, and journalists were forbidden to witness or record the event.

A small group of local and foreign journalists and cameramen were kept not only outside of the fence but told to back off across the road, and therefore out of sight of the commissioners either entering the building or meeting the king.

Later, Mr Justice Warwick said that the king was presented with six copies of the two volumes report. Volume One has 628 pages and its content included a body of the report and an executive summary. Volume Two, has 185 pages of the appendixes.

Lola Koloamatangi, secretary of the Commission of Inquiry said that the issue of when the report will be made available to the public was raised by the chairman when the report was presented to the king.

Noble Lasike, the Chairman of the Whole House Committee, was presented with 15 copies at the Tongan Legislative Assembly.

Lasike thanked the chairman and Commission for their hard work. He said he hoped that the findings of the report would soothe the pain of families who lost loved ones in the tragedy.

The Commission's report was right on deadline, seven months after it started its investigation.

The content of the report is dictated by the terms of reference of the commission, which investigated the facts about the disaster and the accompanying search, rescue and recovery of the disaster victims and the cause of the disaster. The commission also heard evidence leading to any criminal act contributing to the disaster; evidence leading to any civil responsibility for the disaster; and investigated the reasons why the loss of lives attained such a magnitude. The commission was also to present proposals for any measures that would help to prevent the future occurrence of a similar disaster or that may assist in future, search, rescue and recovery of disaster victims.

Meanwhile, criminal charges have been laid against several people, including the Managing Director of the Shipping Corporation of Polynesia Ltd. John Jonesse, the Captain and the First Mate of the Ashika, the Acting director of the Marine Division of the Ministry of Transport, the Secretary of the SCP and the Shipping Corporation of Polynesia Ltd. itself.