The hearing into the sinking of the MV Rabaul Queen off Papua New Guinea's Morobe Coast has heard the ferry was carrying more than 460 passengers when it sank.
The commission started its hearings in Port Moresby this week.
Official figures show that 237 people were rescued after the ferry sank in heavy weather nine nautical miles off Finschhafen on February the 2nd.
The newspaper, The National, reports the Rabaul Shipping owner Peter Sharp presented a manifest dated January 31, 2012, that showed 322 passengers bound for Lae had boarded in Rabaul.
The second manifest for Feb 1 and Feb 2, 2012, showed 138 additional passengers boarded in Kimbe for the journey to Lae.
