Sad Christmas for Tonga ferry families

STACY SQUIRES/The Press

SAD TIME: Elisapeta Ofa faces Christmas without her mother.

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A Christchurch woman will miss hearing her mother's cheerful voice over the phone this Christmas after three family members perished in the Tongan ferry tragedy.

Elisapeta Tahahau Ofa's mother and youngest brother and sister were among the 74 people who died when the ferry Princess Ashika sank on August 5, 86 kilometres northeast of the Tongan capital, Nuku'alofa.

Ofa, who has lived in Christchurch for 20 years, said she wanted to spend Christmas in Tonga with her father, but could not afford to take her family.

Twelve of her brothers and sisters would be in Tonga to help her father through the holiday period.

"Every day I always remember my mum and the conversations that we had. It's really sad knowing that she's gone forever, there's no-one to ring up and ask advice about things," Ofa said.

"There are times that I feel angry, but I keep telling myself if I stay angry I won't be able to move on."

A Royal Commission of Inquiry is continuing into the ferry disaster, with numerous reports the vessel was unseaworthy.

Ofa said she was pleased there was international coverage of the inquiry.

She hoped that meant issues regarding safety and travel could not simply be "swept under the carpet".

"There's hope that there will be people held accountable for what happened," she said.

"Hopefully, they will realise how important the lives of people in Tonga actually are."

Ofa said she was surprised to learn the man who ran the shipping company that operated the Princess Ashika was from Christchurch and had no shipping experience.

"But that is how they do things in Tonga. Things have to change," she said.

Ofa said families had been given just $2000 for each family member who died.

Her mother had run the household and sold products at the market.

With her gone, it was left to Ofa and her siblings to support her father.

Those who did not have families were suffering from the loss, she said.

Ofa said she was happy that the ferry stay on the seafloor.

"I can't see the point of bringing them [the remains] up," she said.

- © Fairfax NZ News