Goundar Shipping Limited could have two new vessels operating in Fiji in August this year.

Company managing director George Goundar confirmed this to the Fiji Sun.

“We have done our inspection on the two ships in November; they’re still under contract until April of this year. If all goes well we should have the ships operating in Fiji by August,” he said.

The arrival of the two new vessels will increase the company’s fleet to six.

Currently, the company has the Lomaiviti Princess I, Lomaiviti Princess II, Lomaiviti Princess III and the Lomaiviti Princess IV.

The Lomaiviti Princess IV was specifically purchased from South Korea last year to service the Taveuni to Natuvu route in Vanua Levu.

He said the Lomaiviti III would soon be leaving for Auckland for dry dock.

In the meantime, he said, Lomaiviti Princess I went to Taveuni and Savusavu on Monday, the Lomaiviti Princess II had just returned from Rotuma  on Monday and would leave for the Yasayasa Moala group on Tuesday and the Lomaiviti Princess III left for Lomaiviti on Monday.

Mr Goundar said the company was sticking to its vision – “To continuously improve island coastal travel experience in Fiji through excellence in service and innovation.”

The company’s mission –“To provide safe, customer focused, and cost effective service that surpasses the expectations in the areas of quality and customer service for the communities we serve. We strive to be a leader in the inter-island passenger and cargo transportation by setting new benchmarks.”