Princess Ashika. Photo courtesy HMNZS Manawanui navy team.
Princess Ashika on the seabed. Photo courtesy HMNZS Manawanui navy team.
SITTING in an upright position, the sunken MV Princess Ashika can be clearly seen in a video captured by a Remote Underwater Operating Vehicle working at over 100 metres on the Ha'apai seabed, including evidence of human remains observed by a navy survey team yesterday.
A three and a half minutes clip was shown to the Tongan media this morning by Lt. Commander Andrew McMillan of the HMNZS Manawanui, at the Tongan Police Operation Ashika headquarters.
Tonga Police Cmdr Chris Kelly (left) and Lt. Cmdr Andrew McMillan today
He said the team, who controlled the hour and a half ROV survey of the vessel, observed human remains. "But my team acted in a very professional way when approaching the scene and were very respectful towards the remains and concentrated solely on the vessel."
The short video clip embargoed for release to the public at 6pm today will not show the human remains.
Cargo area of Princess Ashika. Photo courtesy HMNZS Manawanui navy team.
Hazardous
He said that the condition on the wreck site was quite hazardous with a lot of ropes, wires and bits of debris that the ROV could have been caught up in but they managed to get into the cargo hold general area.
The video shows overturned vehicles including an ambulance with ropes still attached to it.
Ashika wreck site, hazardous for the ROV. Photo courtesy HMNZS Manawanui navy team.
Overturned on the seabed, a new ambulance from the cargo hold of Princess Ashika. Photo courtesy HMNZS Manawanui navy team.
"At the start of the search and rescue operation we hoped to bring back survivors or remains back to families. We are disappointed and very sad that we were not able to bring anyone back to families because of the limited capabilities we have," said Cmdr McMillan.
Tonga Police Commander Chris Kelly in charge of Operation Ashika since it started 14 days ago, in today's briefing said he believed that they had reached the limit of their capability to either find any of the missing passengers alive or be able to bring up any remains from the sunken vessel.
"I consider we have exhausted all likelihood of finding survivors and in that respect I believe the families of the 72 persons accounted for can complete closure for their loved ones," he said.
Inside the cargo hold of Princess Ashika. Photo courtesy HMNZS Manawanui navy team.
72 missing
He said that of today out of the 72 persons who were still missing, the full identity of two remain unknown.
He said the navy staff operating the underwater camera did identify evidence of human remains around the site but they took a respectful approach to maintain the dignity of the wreck and those remains will not be displayed in the selected images that will be released this evening.
"No identifications were possible and those images will not be released," he said.
"The video is in the possession of the Tonga Police inquiry team and will be made available in full to the Royal Commission of Inquiry. We have made a decision to release selected clips from the video to the media for release to the public. I emphasise the clips are selective and do not represent the whole video content which will be subject to release provisions in other forums.
The New Zealand Navy has completed its work on site to the maximum of its capabilities and will return to New Zealand in due course.
"I wish to publicly thank Lt Cmdr Andrew McMillan, his staff and the Captain and crew of the HMNZS Manawanui for their support, assistance and respect to the victims and their families of the Princess Ashika," he said.
The navy team releases a short video of the Ashika ROV observation
