A life ring from the ill fated Princess Ashika which went down in the ocean off Tonga on the 5th of August was found in the Wakaya Passage yesterday.
Andrea Georger Dehm from the Ovalau Watersports was taking some divers to dive in the waters between Ovalau and Wakaya when they found the life ring.
Andrea said they were shocked to see the life ring as the Princess Ashika was a well known vessel which used to operate in Levuka before it was sold to Tonga.
74 people lost their lives when the MV Princess Ashika sank off the coast of Nuku'alofa.
Meanwhile, Tonga's Kele'a newspaper reported that allegations have surfaced that the Princess Ashika was repaired at night to stop people from querying its seaworthiness.
The reports stem from a letter written by the head of the Ports Authority to the Prime Minister of Tonga on August 11th.
Radio New Zealand correspondent in Tonga Mateni Tapueluelu said Commander Lupeti Vi claimed the vessel was not fit even to sail from the main land to a resort just one kilometer away.
Tapueluelu said the photographs the commander provided him show big holes in the ferry.
According to the reporter, the commander said in his letter to the Tongan Prime Minister that there will be possible bloodshed if photographs are made public.
Ashika life ring found in Wakaya
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