Exec hired without references

Failed Christchurch businessman John Jonesse got his job managing the Shipping Corporation of Polynesia (SCP) with one interview and no references, a commission sitting in Tonga has heard.

Jonesse, 50, told the commission of inquiry into the sinking of the SCP ferry Princess Ashika that he applied for the job of managing director in August 2006, and by February 2007 he knew he had the job.

The ferry sank on August 5 between Nuku'alofa and Ha'afeva with the loss of 73 lives.

Jonesse had one formal interview and was not asked for any references by the SCP board. He was not aware of any checks being made on his background, he told the commission on Tuesday.

Despite varied work experience, which included stints as operations manager for American Express and marketing general manager for the United Group, he did not have any references because he had not asked for them, he said.

To questions from counsel assisting the commission, Manual Varitimos, he agreed he had no shipping experience, but the board had been more interested in "addressing the situation of debt and the situation of historical crewing agreements".

He accepted no-one on the SCP board but Lord Dalgety, the company secretary, had any shipping experience.

It was critical for surveyors from the Tongan Transport Department to survey the Princess Ashika before purchase, he agreed, and he could not explain why that was not done. No independent valuation was carried out.

Jonesse was told by Princess Ashika owner George Patterson that the ferry was for sale for NZ$832,000, but he negotiated a price of $437,000.

A pre-purchase report in which Jonesse stated the vessel was well maintained was supported by recent documents.

Jonesse said he was not aware before the purchase of a Fijian marine inquiry into the sinking of another Patterson ship, the Ovalau II, and that it was critical of Patterson's ship maintenance and documentation.

He agreed he had not evaluated the scuppers (drain channels) on the ship, despite saying in a report the hold was "well-scuppered". He became aware the hold was not well scuppered after the ferry arrived in Tonga in July, but no work was done before the ferry sailed.

Jonesse was asked about a document he provided to the Transport Minister that was titled Audit Completed 6-8 April, 2009. He agreed he had written the name of David Shaw, of Shaw Diesel Services, on the document, but said he had put "pp" (on behalf of) in front of the name. He agreed he had no authority to write Shaw's name on the document, but denied he was trying to make it look as though Shaw had signed it.

He could not explain the fact some copies of the document had "pp" before Shaw's name while others did not, but he rejected Varitimos' suggestion he had entered the letters after the sinking to save embarrassment.

Jonesse worked in Christchurch in several business roles before heading a string of businesses that failed.

The commission is expected to sit into the new year, although it will issue a preliminary report on November 30.