Goundar Shipping Limited managing director George Goundar is expecting a report from his team in Singapore who are inspecting their new vessel.

“After proper inspection then I will get Maritime and Safety Authority of Fiji (MSAF) on board and my vessel will be in Fiji sometimes in November,” he said.

Mr Goundar told the Fiji Sun yesterday that the cost of his new vessel is around $10.47m.

The vessel is 120 metres long with the speed of 22 knots. He also said that it is a very big vessel and can accommodate 1500 passengers.

New Natovi jetty

Mr Goundar said that he is making plans on how to service the Nabouwalu-Natovi route. He said part of the plan is to construct a new jetty in Natovi sometimes this year.

“Everything concerning the servicing of this route will be finalised once we have our own jetty,” he added.

New Economy Class

Works on the refurbishment of the economy class of the MV Lomaiviti Princes III is about to be completed. Mr Goundar said there are few things that needed to be done. The cost of the refurbishment works is around $500,000.

Clean-up

Goundar Shipping has again allocated $100,000 for the next clean-up campaign in Koro. This time the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has also come on board to join GSL in the clean-up campaign.

During his visit to Koro last week, Mr Goundar said there are about 240 tonnes of debris and waste materials that still need to be removed.

He is planning to make the next clean-up trip next Friday. Mr Goundar said 15 tonnes of debris from Koro High School was yesterday shipped to Suva by one of his vessels.

Levuka

Mr Goundar will visit Levuka on Friday just to have a look at the situation there and also discuss with Roko Ovalau on how he can assist in the island’s clean-up campaign.

He will release more details once he return to Suva.