Port au Prince anchor taken from Ha'apai.

At 11am on the morning of 14th November 2012 the Pulupaki ferry, assisted by a team of divers, raised and removed what may be an anchor from the Port au Prince. The anchor, discovered by Fins 'n' Flukes in 2009, had lay undisturbed for over two centuries and is considered a priceless artifact to the unique maritime heritage of the Ha'apai Islands, the people of Ha'apai and to the Kingdom of Tonga as a whole.

Despite being found three years ago it was left in place by the discoverer as a silent monument to the maritime history of these islands and this is actually the greatest loss of all, a piece of history has been removed from Ha’apai, and a unique part of the heritage of the Ha’apai people has been lost from this group of islands, possibly forever.

The true value of the anchor, one of the most important marine archaeological treasures of the entire Kingdom, is its value to tourism. The site of the anchor had already been developed into a tourist attraction for diving and its loss also means Ha'apai has lost a very interesting diving site for visitors to the islands. The story of the ship, the anchor and William Mariners time in Tonga excited the imagination of many visitors to Ha’apai. The anchor meant that people could see and touch a piece of that story and so connect with the history of Ha’apai. That connection is now lost and it is indeed a great shame that this has been allowed to happen.

The story of the Port au Prince is world famous, so Ha’apai is known the world over as the place where the Prince met her end. In the words of William Mariner himself “On Saturday the 29^th of November 1806, at 4 p.m., The Port au Prince brought to, for the last time, in seven fathoms of water at the N.W. point of one of the Ha’apai Islands, called Lefooga”. It was here that the unfortunate sailors lost their lives and the anchor was like the headstone on their graves. Its removal is akin to grave robbing, absolutely beyond belief and sickening.

To see the picture of the anchor being recklessly dragged up the side of the ship is sad. If this operation was to ever have been carried out at all this anchor needed to have been handled with extreme care, to stop any damage during recovery and to immediately be put into a preserving and stabilizing solution to stop immediate corrosive damage through exposure to air. This is a priceless artifact being abused as no international protocol has been followed with regard to the best practice for removal and preservation.

By signing this petition every Tongan and every friend of Tonga can declare their realisation of what such a loss means to them. The anchor was originally taken by the warriors of Ha’apai in 1806 and this petition will help the people of Ha’apai to fight for it once more in 2012.

The anchor belongs in Ha’apai and should be returned to Ha’apai to its original resting place so the people of these islands can reap the financial benefits of tourism generated by the story of the Port au prince for many years to come.

Come on Tonga, lets stand up for what is right. All it takes for evil to succeed is for a good person to say nothing, you can speak here!

At 11am on the morning of 14th November 2012 the Pulupaki ferry, assisted by a team of divers, raised and removed what may be an anchor from the Port au Prince. The anchor, discovered by Fins 'n' Flukes in 2009, had lay undisturbed for over two centuries and is considered a priceless artifact to the unique maritime heritage of the Ha'apai Islands, the people of Ha'apai and to the Kingdom of Tonga as a whole. The Pulupaki is owned by a member of parliment.

The site of the anchor had already been developed into a tourist attraction for diving and its loss means Ha'apai has lost a very interesting diving site for visitors to the islands. This will in no doubt depreciate the economical value of Ha'apai as a tourist destinatiuon for evermore  Despite being found 3 years ago it was left in place as a testament and monument to the maritime history of these islands and this is actually the greatest loss of all, a piece of history has been removed from Ha’apai, and a unique part of the heritage of the Ha’apai people has now been lost from the group of islands, possibly forever.

The true value of the anchor, one of the most important marine archaeological treasures of the entire Kingdom, is its value to tourism. The story of the ship, the anchor and William Mariners time in Tonga excited the imagination of many visitors to Ha’apai. The anchor meant that they could see and touch a piece of that story and so connect with the history of Ha’apai. That connection is now lost and for tourism in these small islands it is indeed a great shame that this has been allowed to happen.

The story of the Port au Prince is world famous, so Ha’apai is known the world over as the place where the Prince met her end. In the words of William Mariner himself “On Saturday the 29^th of November 1806, at 4 p.m., The Port au Prince brought to, for the last time, in seven fathoms of water at the N.W. point of one of the Ha’apai Islands, called Lefooga”. It was here that the unfortunate sailors lost their lives and the anchor was like the headstone on their graves. Its removal is akin to grave robbing, absolutely beyond belief and sickening. That the anchor has been taken from Ha’apai is a tragedy and such a sorry end to an otherwise amazing story.

It is believed the dive team had a salvage license for a wreck on Ha'ano Island but this anchor lay off Lifuka Island and should be considered a seperate archaeological site.

To see the picture of the anchor being recklessly dragged up the side of the
ship is sad. If this operation was to ever have been carried out at
all this anchor needed to have been handled with extreme care, to stop any damage during recovery and to immediately be put into a preserving and stabilizing solution to stop
immediate corrosive damage through exposure to air. This is a priceless artifact being abused as no international protocol has been followed with regard to the best practice for removal and preservation..

By signing this petition every Tongan and every friend of Tonga can declare their realisation of what such a loss means to them. The anchor was originally taken by the warriors of Ha’apai in 1806 and  this petition will help the people of Ha’apai to fight for it once morein 2012.

The anchor belongs in Ha’apai and should be returned to Ha’apai to its original resting place so the people of these islands can reap the financial benefits of tourism generated by the story of the Port au prince for many years to come.

Come on Tonga, lets stand up for what is right. Let us not stand by with closed lips while our cultural heritage is ripped out from beneath our feet.