Soaring airfares and no ferry puts Torres Strait Islander lives at risk

The loss of five souls at sea connected to Dauan Island is still being felt in the tiny Torres Strait community according to a relative of the Pana Boy’s skipper.

THE loss of five souls at sea connected to Dauan Island is still being felt in the tiny Torres Strait community 10km south of the Papua New Guinea mainland.

Following the release of a coroner’s report into the maritime tragedy on Monday – the sister of the Pana Boy’s skipper who never returned home – said the impact of the deaths was still being felt.

On July 31, 2019 Donald Mooka, 44, his son Claude, 9, Alan Maka Bigie, 22, Gina Laiana Precilla Dilaila Gaidan-Banu, 21, and Telcy Patricia Elizabeth (Illyzaveth) Mooka, 21 perished when their 7m banana boat failed to arrive at Dauan Island after attempting a dangerous 120km trip from Badu Island after arriving safely from the jetty at Seisia.

The 7m vessel Pana Boy being towed by a rescue craft after being found upturned in waters south west of Dauan Island.

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An aerial search to find the boat, Pana Boy, focused on an area between Badu Island and Dauan Island but was hampered by a strong southeast wind and 2m swell.

The following day the search and rescue effort escalated and a number of fixed and rotary wing aircraft and vessels joined the search before the upturned vessel was located in waters south west of Dauan Island.

An Esky and dry-bag from the vessel was located later that afternoon on the south eastern coast of Boigu Island.

The loss of five people connected to Badu Island in the Torres Strait left a void in the community of 80 inhabitants.

But no bodies have ever been recovered.

Donald Mooka’s sister lived in the same house as her sibling and being a part of a community of only 80 people the loss had left a massive void on the island, she said.

“It has been two years so (it’s mainly) the immediate family that’s still mourning and trying to look forward,” she said.

There has been no funeral for Mr Mooka since being lost at sea for two years.

Mr Mooka’s sister said she had made the same trip between Dauan and Badu islands and when the sea was rough she had feared for her life.

“I have done that trip so many times when we have the occasion to attend,” she said.

Given the high cost of air travel Mr Mooka’s sister said people had no choice but to risk their lives at sea.

A search boat in 2005 returns to Badu Island after no luck in finding five people missing from an aluminium dinghy during trip from Saibai Island. Picture: Eddie Safarik.

“If (air travel) would be cheaper there would be less people travelling by boat,” she said.

In the report investigating the deaths Northern Coroner Nerida Wilson identified a lack of reliable weather data, the prohibitive cost of air travel, a lack of maritime safety education, poor mobile phone reception and lack of an inter-island ferry service as contributing factors in the drownings.

“A cultural change is required by local people residing in the Torres Strait when it comes to carrying and wearing safety equipment whilst operating vessels, and the risks of travelling in severe weather conditions,” she said.

Originally published as Soaring airfares and no ferry puts Torres Strait Islander lives at risk