Grieving dad wants ‘dirty secrets’ out

by LESLIE OMARO
GRIEVING dad Oala Baru Arua, whose missing son Arua Baru was chief engineer on the ill-fated mv Rabaul Queen, is confident Peter Sharp’s “dirty secrets” will be exposed by the commission of inquiry.
Arua, a principal at the Metago Training Institution, was in Port Moresby last Friday to attend the Commission of Inquiry investigating the sinking of the inter-island ferry on Feb 2 off Finschhafen.
He came to Port Moresby from Lae with wife Geua, daughter-in-law Idau Arua and grandson five-year-old Arua Baru Junior.
Arua said Sharp showed no remorse for the human lives lost and was just taking the grieving families for a ride.
“From the stories I heard when I was in Lae, my son went back down to the engine room to switch off the engines,” he said.
“Since he was the chief engineer, it was his job to turn on the engines and turn it off and when he went down, he got trapped.
“He was a professional employee and Peter Sharp did not mention his name among the 16 crew as his chief engineer.”
Arua was surprised when he learnt from insurance companies giving evidence at the inquiry that Sharp’s vessels, including the mv Rabaul Queen, might not have been seaworthy.   
“This is very important information Sharp was hiding,” he said.
“Peter Sharp is keeping dirty secrets from everyone. For example, the QBE Insurance said they stopped providing insu­rance cover for all his vessels since 2009.
“They were already aware of the risk and they could not take it on.
“Mal Varitimos (the lawyer assisting the commission) is really making Sharp talk and making him to say things out.
“He (Peter Sharp) was hiding things from his employees but it is all slowly going to come out.
“Now I know how the crew felt because they knew the ship was not safe to travel on,” Arua said.
He also said the National Maritime Safety Authority did not perform its duties to enforce regulations as expected.
Widow Idau said they were still searching for answers but, to date, had not received any good news from Sharp.
“We will not give up until justice is done to my husband and those that went missing with him at sea,” she said.