Three charged with manslaughter of mother in ferry sinking that killed 74

THREE people have been charged with manslaughter over the death of one of 74 passengers who died last year following the sinking of a ferry near Tonga.

Among those who lost their lives aboard the Princess Ashika last August was Scot Daniel MacMillan from Islay, whose body was among only two recovered from the vessel.

Police Commander Chris Kelley said a charge of sending an unseaworthy ship to sea had also been laid against ferry operator Shipping Corp of Polynesia.

The manslaughter charges – against corporation managing director John Jonesse, ferry captain Makahokovalu Tuputupu and first mate Viliami Tu'ipulotu – relate to the death of 21-year-old mother Vae Fetu'u Taufa, whose body was also recovered.

However, Commander Kelley said charges against the death of MacMillan, 48, and the other 72 people unaccounted for would be "laid in due course".

Manslaughter in Tonga carries a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison. The charge of sending an unseaworthy ship to sea carries a maximum penalty of three years' imprisonment and possible fines of 30,000 Tongan pa'anga (10,000).

Kelley said the police investigation is separate from the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the sinking, which is due to report on 1 April.

Lord Ramsay Dalgety, a Scots QC and secretary of the shipping corporation, was arrested on charges of perjury last month.

Dalgety, who was given his title by King George Topou V in 2008, was put under house arrest for 24 hours and a news blackout was imposed in the country which is taking tentative steps away from monarchical rule.

MacMillan, who had a Bachelor of Science degree and a Masters in experimental biology from Aberdeen University, moved to Christchurch, New Zealand in 1992.

He saved for a year for his ferry fare to Tonga for a holiday.

Joan Sturgeon, a friend of MacMillan at the City Mission, a homeless shelter in Christchurch where he was a volunteer, said: "Friends had warned Danny not to get the ferry because we all knew it was dodgy.

"The evidence on the sinking has already described it as a 'rust bucket'.

"Danny had a wonderful sense of humour, was highly intelligent and was the sort of person you could talk to and trust."

Last night, the MacMillan family said they did not want to comment on the case.