PM vows to find all on board mv Rabaul Queen

PRIME Minister Peter O’Neill has vowed that every passenger on board the ill-fated ferry mv Rabaul Queen will be accounted for.
O’Neill yesterday allocated an additional K8 million to the search and rescue operation and for the relief of people affected by last Thursday’s ferry disaster when he spoke to some of the survivors and families during a visit to Lae.
He told the gathering that the National Maritime Safety Authority (NMSA) would have a new head with the appointment of Dr Thomas Webster.
Webster replaces Hamish Sharp who is the brother of Peter Sharp who owns Star Shipping which operated the Rabaul Queen.
He also announced the appointment of retired judge Warrick Andrews, who lives in Australia, to head the independent commission of inquiry into the tragedy.
More than 350 people were on board when the ferry sank. Six bodies have been recovered so far but more than 100 people remained missing.
O’Neill, who met some of the 246 survivors and families of some of the missing at the St Paul’s Primary School in Lae yesterday, said the government is asking Japan to assist in salvaging the sunken ship as the Japanese have the expertise to conduct deep sea salvage operations.
The mv Rabaul Queen capsized in heavy weather and sank in waters over a kilometre deep.
O’Neill said an investigation into the operations of the Border Development  Authority would also be conducted.
The National Disaster and Emergency Service (NDES) would also be overhauled.
Minister for Inter-Government Relations Mark Maipakai said in Port Moresby recent disasters that had hit the country – a huge landslide in the Hela region, flooding in Northern and last week’s sinking of the ferry mv Rabaul Queen – had shown up inadequacies at the centre.
The new National Disaster Authority would have greater autonomy and adequate manpower and resources to effectively manage and respond to disasters, Maipakai said.
While the ferry operator, Rabaul Shipping, had been taking heavy flak following the tragedy, the head of the Trade Union Congress said the government
had to share the blame for the tragedy.
General secretary John Paska said the national government, as the regulatory body, had failed to ensure its maritime safety rules were enforced.
He said while the cause of the sinking must be investigated, a tragedy of this magnitude was bound to happen because the ships were crammed with passengers without consideration for public safety.
Paska said the recent Airlines PNG air crash near Madang and the mv Rabaul Queen sinking in which lives were lost boiled down to safety issues.
Meanwhile, a man in Rabaul who informed search and rescue that 27 ferry survivors were stranded on Siassi and Tuam islands had been arrested for giving false information.
Working with mobile phone company Digicel, officials in Lae traced the call to East New Britain.
Armed with the information, police tracked the hoaxer down to an address in Rabaul and took him into custody.
Authorities in Lae and East New Britain had jointly cautioned people against giving false and misleading information or starting rumours.