BY ROWAN CALLICK
THE AUSTRALIAN

PETER SHARP, THE OWNER of the Rabaul Queen, which sank in Papua New Guinea on 2 February claiming more than 200 lives, has told an inquiry he ignored weather warnings.

But Australian-born Captain Sharp, quizzed by Brisbane barrister Mal Varitimos, told the inquiry in Port Moresby on Tuesday that the ship sank because of an "act of God".

He conceded that when he bought the ship 13 years ago it was being used for smooth waters, in Japan's inland sea.

Captain Sharp said "someone in the Transport Department" had questioned the suitability of the vessel for PNG waters. The ship's survey certificate issued in 2003 licensed it "to operate in conditions below force-seven seas".

Captain Sharp agreed with Mr Varitimos that "any competent and responsible operator of a passenger vessel would not send it to sea without accurate, reliable and timely weather forecasts . . . if they're available". If they were not, he said, the master could still send a ship to sea.

He told the inquiry, chaired by Australian judge Warwick Andrew, that he would not have sailed the Rabaul Queen in gale-force conditions, but "probably would have allowed it to sail" in force-seven winds of 28-33 knots.

Captain Sharp usually obtained weather information on the internet from the Queensland Bureau of Meteorology - which on January 31 warned of three cyclones in the western Pacific. He said he looked at the website of the Hawaii-based America Joint Typhoon Warning Centre.

But he said he never sought information from the PNG Weather Bureau, or from PNG Coastal Radio, which was often, he said, "at least 24 to 48 hours behind what's actually happening".

"I know they're totally unreliable," he said. "I knew better the conditions - the situation - than they did."

When Rabaul Queen departed on its final fatal voyage from Kimbe to Lae - which usually takes 21 hours - the PNG Weather Bureau was warning of wind force eight or nine.

Captain Sharp said that even if he had been advised of that gale wind warning he would "not necessarily" have prevented the ship from sailing. He would have contacted the captain and discussed the situation.

He said he had bought infant life jackets, and stowed them in the cabin for mothers and children.

But he did not know why Rabaul Queen crew were unaware they were available. Earlier witnesses reported that life jackets had been held in padlocked cupboards.