Prime Minister Jotham Napat has acknowledged serious failures within Vanuatu’s maritime safety system following two deadly sea tragedies, promising an independent investigation, accountability and major reforms to prevent further loss of life at sea.

Speaking during the national mourning and tribute day for those who lost their lives, Napat said the tragedies of 8 August and 11 September had exposed critical weaknesses in vessel safety, enforcement, regulation, weather warnings and search-and-rescue operations.

He said the country can no longer afford to treat maritime safety as a matter of rules existing only on paper.

“No truth shall be hidden,” Napat said, assuring grieving families that there was political will to uncover what happened and hold those responsible accountable.

He said the investigation would examine every level of the MV Matui tragedy , from vessel licensing and loading to clearance to sail, the actions of the captain and crew, the responsibilities of ship owners and the role of government agencies responsible for maritime safety.

If negligence or wrongdoing is established, Napat said those responsible could face prosecution.

“Justice must have its way. No one is above the law,” he said.

A failure across the system

The Prime Minister became emotional as he reflected on the response to the MV Matui disaster.

He said the lengthy delay in mounting a full search-and-rescue operation raised serious questions about whether more lives could have been saved.

Napat described the tragedy as a failure across multiple levels of the system , involving ship owners, enforcement, legislation, safety, regulation and search and rescue.

He acknowledged that there are still many questions surrounding the disaster.

“There are many questions, but I cannot give you all the right answers,” he said.

But he stressed that the tragedy had provided the country with a hard lesson about the risks faced by people who depend on sea for transportation.

‘We cannot play with the lives of our people’

Napat said the MV Matui disaster had shown that Vanuatu must take maritime safety more seriously.

The tragedy has raised questions about vessel seaworthiness, passenger loading, safety equipment, passenger manifests, enforcement of maritime regulations and compliance with weather warnings.

The Prime Minister said existing safety requirements must be properly enforced and tested , not simply recorded in documents.

He said vessels must be safe before they are allowed to sail, and operators must comply with requirements designed to protect passengers.

Among the concerns raised was the condition of safety equipment reportedly associated with MV Matui, including an expired life raft and problems surrounding emergency equipment.

Napat also said the vessel did not have a proper passenger manifest, forcing authorities to rely heavily on families to establish who had been aboard.

Weather warnings must no longer be ignored

The Prime Minister said another important lesson from the tragedies was the need to obey marine weather warnings.

He said there should be no more situations where vessels are allowed to sail into dangerous conditions despite official warnings.

Under the Government’s proposed reforms, vessels attempting to depart during severe weather warnings will be detained.

Napat said the Government would strengthen enforcement so that weather warnings translate into action to protect passengers.

Search and rescue to be overhauled

Napat also announced measures aimed at strengthening Vanuatu’s search-and-rescue capacity.

He said a new regulation under the Vanuatu Maritime Safety Authority would allow aviation operators, including Air Vanuatu, Unity Airlines and air-taxi services, to support emergency search-and-rescue operations.

Aircraft could be redirected from normal operations when required to conduct emergency searches.

The Government would also cover the cost of search-and-rescue operations, removing concerns about whether resources could be deployed because of funding issues.

Napat said seaworthy vessels would also be incorporated into rescue operations.

He said the Government is further working through the Ministry of Fisheries on an arrangement involving a US aircraft that could be stationed permanently in Port Vila to conduct surveillance and assist with search-and-rescue operations.

VMSA reforms under consideration

Prime Minister said the Vanuatu Maritime Safety Authority (VMSA) would also face further reforms.

He said the VMSA board had met to consider the gaps exposed by the recent tragedies.

One proposal is to separate the authority’s two major functions — maritime regulation and search and rescue.

Under the proposed reform, VMSA will concentrate on its regulatory responsibilities, while search and rescue could come under the Police Commissioner through a dedicated maritime wing.

Napat said legislative changes would also be considered to strengthen maritime safety laws and enforcement.

MV Matui: Questions over seaworthiness and safety

The Prime Minister said MV Matui was not certified to carry passengers, raising serious questions about how the vessel was able to operate with people aboard.

He described this as an issue involving human error and a lack of enforcement, problems that he said could have been avoided.

The Government’s investigation will therefore examine how the vessel was licensed, how it was loaded, how it received clearance to sail and what decisions were made by the captain and crew before and during the voyage.

The investigation will also examine the responsibilities of maritime authorities and ship owners.

Napat said government agencies responsible for maritime safety have legal duties to protect passengers and therefore must also answer questions about what happened.

Two tragedies that shook a nation

The Prime Minister placed the MV Matui disaster within the wider national grief caused by two major maritime tragedies only weeks apart.

On 8 August, an Erromango boat travelling towards Tanna failed to reach its destination.

Among those lost were three fathers and a student who was returning to school.

Napat said the Vanuatu Meteorology and Geo-Hazards Department had issued a marine warning that day, forecasting rough seas and strong south-easterly winds of around 20 to 25 knots, capable of generating swells of up to three metres.

Yet the tragedy still occurred.

Just over a month later, on 11 September, Vanuatu experienced the MV Matui disaster.

The vessel had 53 people aboard, with 14 survivors, while two bodies were recovered and 37 people remained missing when the search was ended.

For the Prime Minister, the numbers alone cannot explain the scale of the loss.

‘They were not just passengers’

Napat said every person aboard the vessels represented a family and a future.

“They were parents. They were students. They were sons and daughters. They were people carrying dreams, responsibilities and hopes for their families.“

The Prime Minister said this was why the tragedies had affected the entire nation.

He acknowledged the schools, communities and members of the public who came together to remember those lost.

Across the country, people went to the sea carrying flowers and paying tribute to those who never returned.

Napat said these acts of remembrance showed that, despite the grief, Vanuatu is standing together.

A nation united in mourning

The national mourning was opened with a message from the Bible.

Before delivering his tribute speech, Napat quoted Matthew 5:4:

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

He said the tragedies of 8 August and 11 September represented one of the darkest moments in Vanuatu’s history.

The loss of so many people at sea had left families waiting for answers, communities grieving and a nation searching for ways to prevent such tragedies from happening again.

Survivors and the strength of faith

Napat also spoke about his visit to survivors of the MV Matui tragedy.

He said some survivors shared with him the frightening experiences they went through as they fought to stay alive at sea.

Their stories, he said, demonstrated extraordinary courage.

But beyond physical survival, Napat said the testimonies also showed the importance of faith during moments of extreme difficulty.

In the middle of uncertainty and suffering, he said, faith can become a source of hope and assurance.

A turning point for maritime safety

For Vanuatu, the Prime Minister’s message was not only about mourning those who died.

It was also a commitment that the tragedies must lead to change.

The Government says the investigation, accountability measures, stronger enforcement, improved search and rescue, stricter vessel safety requirements and reforms to maritime institutions are now part of the response.

For the families who continue to mourn, the promise is simple but significant: the circumstances surrounding the deaths must be uncovered, responsibility must be established where wrongdoing is found, and the lessons from the sea must be turned into stronger protection for those who continue to depend on it.