In this episode, Graeme Hill is joined by maritime storyteller John McCrystal for a sobering account of the 2009 sinking of the Princess Ashika in Tongan waters. McCrystal traces the ferry’s troubled history, its deteriorating condition, and the chain of human failures that allowed an unseaworthy vessel to keep carrying passengers. More than a shipwreck story, this is a cautionary tale about ageing Pacific fleets, weak oversight, and the devastating cost when economic necessity, complacency and poor decisions override safety.