PAUL Karalus, Tonga's former Minister of Transport told the Nuku'alofa Supreme Court on Thursday, February 24, that he had relied entirely on the maritime expertise of the marine surveyors and the Acting Director of Marine, defendant Viliami Tu'ipulotu and they had never told him of any concern they had about the seaworthiness of the MV Princess Ashika.

During three hours of giving evidence, Karalus, a New Zealand national who became a naturalised Tongan citizen, said he was appointed as the Minister of Transport in May 2006, though he admitted that he has no maritime expertise whatsoever.

He said each division had its own technical officers whom he relied on, particularly in regards to marine issues.

When the Ashika arrived in Nuku'alofa on July 1, 2009 he knew it was an old ferry but he said he did not receive a copy of the survey of the vessel.

Concerns

Karalus told the court that there was never a time that any of the marine surveyors told him of their concerns about the sea worthiness of the vessel apart from one occasion about documentation not being onboard before the Ashika sailed on its first voyage on July 3, 2009.

He was told by surveyor Lisiate Vuni Latu, on the morning of July 3 before the vessel sailed, in a casual conversation that documents that should be onboard the vessel were missing. ". . . but I was not told that the vessel should not sail," he said.

Karalus stressed that the Acting Director of Marine Viliami Tu'ipulotu, who was also the Registrar of Ships in July 2009, never advised him to stop the vessel from sailing. He said that after July 3, he had no concern about the operation of the Ashika.

He said that the Head of the Technical Officer for Marine in 2006 was former Secretary of Marine Tu'itupou Fotu with Bill Johnson as deputy and there were also three surveyors.

He said his role as Minister was to administer the regulation and represent the authority of divisions of the Ministry to cabinet. He was also to ensure that the combination of the two ministries (Civil Aviation and Marine) was implemented in a proper manner and according to law.

Key role

Karalus said the Shipping Corporation of Polynesia Ltd. played a key role in the provision of ferry service to the outer islands, at the same time it provided crew service to Forum Line and work opportunities for seaman.

At the time of his appointment as the Minister of Transport there were plans to repair the old Olovaha vessel because its deteriorating condition was a concern to the Ministry and the government.

Negotiation was underway for a new vessel to replace the old Olovaha and he was part of the team that successfully negotiated with the Japanese for a new ferry for Tonga.

However, there was a delay in the construction of the new ferry, and instead of it arriving in Tonga in 2008, it did not arrive until late 2010.

Temporary ferry

Karalus explained that in early 2009 they became aware of the high cost of maintaining the old Olovaha, and the possibility for the ferry operator, SCP to find a replacement vessel.

He said at that stage they had no idea how the replacement vessel was going to be funded or how much it would cost and whether it should be purchased or leased. Similarly, undetermined at that stage was its ownership.

He answered he was not aware of any specific person assigned to find a replacement ferry, but added that the SCP General Manager John Jonesse did the job.

Karalus also said he was not directly involved in searching for the replacement vessel and agreed that he only played a monitoring role and monitored what Jonesse did.

Recommendation

The final recommendation to government for the vessel to be bought was based on the shipping company's SCP recommendation and the Ministry of Public Enterprise was to consider the best option on whether to buy or lease a replacement vessel.

Karalus received documents from Jonesse and SCP and he was aware of an Audit Report prepared by Jonesse and Kerry Bennet that included the purported signature by David Shaw.

He said a recommendation to purchase the replacement vessel was then put to cabinet that outlined firstly that Transport was to carry out due diligence on the vessel so as determine its safety and considerations was also to be made on how the vessel will be bought and legal arrangement was to be considered in conjunction with Board of SCP.

He said all these recommendations were approved by Cabinet and it was submitted to the then Minister of Finance to consider.

The final decision to purchase the vessel, Karalus said was a collective decision.

Payment for vessel

Firstly, a deposit was made on May 8, 2009 to secure the vessel for further consideration and a second final payment was to be made after considering the full documentation with processes to be completed before the purchase of the Ashika.

He was then asked whether the decision for payment included their consideration of the Audit Report. "It was a factor," he said.

He recollected he first heard of the tragic sinking of the Ashika just after midnight on August 5, 2009. His immediate thought was that it required full investigation into its cause and total nature and he immediately approached a former Director of Marine from New Zealand to assist in carrying out an investigation and it was carried out.

Cross-examination

During cross examination by counsel Laki Niu, Karalus agreed that the marine department was required to survey every vessel that sailed in Tonga.

Paul said that the head of surveyors at the time when the talk was done on a replacement vessel was Bill Johnson.

However, he said he was not aware of some procedures in relation to some technical aspects at the marine division like a provisional certificate of registration must be issued to allow a vessel to arrive in Tonga from a foreign country. This was the main work of the technical people at the marine division, he said.

Agreement

Karalus confirmed that there was an agreement between the SCP and the Ministry that it would operate the Ashika and both parties had come into agreement via email.

He said the charter for SCP to operate the vessel was $5,000 per month but he was not sure whether this was paid or not.

This issue was cleared during a redirection by the Crown in which email copies were produced in court about the agreement for the SCP to operate the vessel on the charter condition. It was an email from Karalus to Jonesse dated July 2, 2009 and a reply from Jonesse dated July 17, 2009.

He said it was either paid to the Ministry of Transport or Finance but he did not know whether the payment was made because he never handled payments coming into the Ministry.

Ownership of the vessel was of the Marine Department at the Ministry of Transport but operated by SCP.

Due Diligence

Karalas had recommended to cabinet that Transport would continue to carry out due diligence of the vessel and cabinet approved it.

He was aware it was to be carried out by Johnson but he did not receive any report from Johnson on his finding of that work apart from a verbal, yes, that the work was done.

Karalus accepted that the Ashika was seaworthy because of what Johnson told him.

He also admitted that the Audit report by Shaw/Bennett and Jonesse was one of the considerations, but not the total.

"After you received the Audit Report from Jonesse you were not satisfied it was seaworthy?" asked Laki Niu.

Karalus said that was not correct.

He concluded his evidence on Thursday, February 24.