The Fiji Ports Corporation Limited and the Nagoya Port Authority of Japan are in talks to introduce new cruise liners to enter the Port of Lautoka.

Fiji Ports chief security and operations officer, Captain Jeke Vakararawa, has confirmed that there has been an intention by the foreign agency to send cruise vessels here.

“On September 18, there was a meeting between Nagoya Port Authority and Fiji Ports Corporation in Lautoka,” he said.

“Their intention of visiting was to get cruise vessels from Nagoya to one of the destinations in Fiji which is the Lautoka Port. They selected a few ports from Australia and then Lautoka.”

Captain Vakararawa said there was a very high powered delegation led by the chairman of the Nagoya City Chamber of Commerce  and executive chairman of the Nagoya Port Authority with other stakeholders.

There were a group of 25 who attended the meeting.

“In fact, what they did was they travelled around some of the destination ports in Australia and selected a few from there then the last one in Lautoka,” he said.

Fiji Ports is hoping that by next year they will get cruise vessels from Japan coming into Lautoka Port.

Meanwhile, in discussion with the visiting team, Captain Vakararawa had asked them how often they would be calling into the Port of Lautoka.

“They said if things all go well, they might send in a ship every 18 days rotation. So it’s a big increase in number for Lautoka Port on that note.

“Japanese tourists want the sun, sea and the sand. Suva is a large port but they prefer Lautoka.

“This is because we have experienced in the past that most Japanese tourists go to Mana Island and some other smaller islands.”

Lautoka offers the sun, sand and sea which they prefer.

About Nagoya Port Authority

Nagoya Port Authority is a special local government body that was jointly established by Aichi Prefecture and Nagoya City in Japan on September 8, 1951.

Situated at the innermost part of Ise Bay, which is located at the center of the Japanese Archipelago on the east coast facing the Pacific Ocean, the Port of Nagoya has steadily grown since it opened for international trade on November 10, 1907.

The Port is an integrated international port, handling all types of cargo (general, container, bulk etc.)

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