Abstract:
On August 5, 2009, the Princess Ashika sank just before midnight in open sea in the Ha'apai Group of Tonga, with a total of 128 people on board. Official figures released by âOperation Ashikaâ confirmed that 54 men were rescued, and 74 persons were lost at sea. These include two bodies recovered and 72 missing (68 passengers and 4 crew), including five foreign nationals. Two of the missing passengers remain unidentified.
All of the survivors were men, and all the women on the boat drowned (32 women in total). The dead include 15 children (10 boys and 5 girls). The average age of these children was 7 years old.
As is the usual practice found in the gendered division of labour and space on such boats, the women and children were sleeping close together on mattresses below deck, while the crew members (all of whom were men) and some male passengers were on the upper deck. This meant that it was easier for the men to jump off when the ship was sinking, and thereby save their lives. Survivors report that the boat sank quickly, within 5 minutes.