The hearing into the conduct of the captain of the Nafanua II patrol boat that was badly damage when it ran aground in Salelologa two months ago began on Friday.

Superintendent Taito Sefo Hunt will appear before the Police Tribunal on five disciplinary charges he is facing in connection to allegation of misconduct. 

Minister of Police, Faualo Harry Schuster told the Samoa Observer the officer in charge of the Nafanua II boat has pleaded not guilty to the disciplinary charges against him. 

He will be represented by lawyer Muriel Lui before the Police Tribunal. 

Faualo said a separate Commission of Inquiry (C.O.I.) into the Nafanua II operation was delayed due to the matter being set down for hearing before the Police Inquiry. 

There are three different investigations into the Nafanua II incident; the police inquiry, the C.O.I. and another separate investigation by the Ministry of Works Transport and Infrastructure. 

“The decision now is that when we receive the findings from the M.W.T.I. it will be referred to the Commission of Inquiry that will hear from the witnesses that were on the boat to begin inquiry instead of waiting for the Police tribunal to finish,” he said. 

“The Commission of Inquiry is a wider finding exercise that looks at the scenario of what happened while the Police focus on the disciplinary charges and claims of negligence that led to what happened…” 

Former Attorney General, Tuiloma Neroni Slade is chairing the C.O.I. alongside Tuilaepa Peter Rasch and former C.E.O. of Health, Palanitina Tupuimatagi Toelupe. 

Superintendent Hunt was suspended in September after disciplinary charges that he denied were filed against him. 

Meanwhile, the Minister of Police said Nafanua II is in Adelaide Australia and will soon be inspected by engineers to undergo damage assessment. 

A team from Australia together with local authorities successfully salvaged the $30 million tala boat and towed it away from the Salelologa reef last month. 

The Nafanua II Guardian-class patrol boat was built in Australia for Samoa. 

It replaced the original Nafanua and was donated by Australia as part of the Defence Cooperation Program to enhance the capacity of 13 Pacific nations to secure their maritime boundaries and respond to transnational crime and search and rescue operations.