‘Fiji Navy Cannot Track All Vessels’

The Republic of Fiji Navy has revealed it cannot monitor every vessel entering Fiji waters during a parliamentary committee hearing on Tuesday.

Fiji Navy Commander (Navy), Captain Timoci Natuva told the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence that Fiji’s maritime borders are “porous” and the Fiji Navy lacked full monitoring capabilities.

“We can’t monitor every vessel. It’s just so vast,” Captain Natuva said during the submission on the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement.

He said Fiji Navy could only track vessels that displayed Automatic Identification System (AIS) signals or had information from neighbouring countries.

He also noted that “Dark vessels” that did not turn on tracking systems remained unmonitored.

“That’s why we rely on other new technology that is coming into place to be able to provide that capability,” he said.

Captain Natuva said a 14-day naval patrol cost about $80,000 in fuel alone, excluding other associated expenses.

Responding to questions about monitoring Fiji’s 1.3 million square kilometre Exclusive Economic Zone, Captain Natuva said the Fiji Navy relied on intelligence-based targeted patrols to minimise costs.

“What we have been doing is conducting intelligence-based patrol where we rely on our partner agencies to provide us information and have targeted patrols,” he said.

This comes as Fiji considers ratifying the BBNJ Agreement which aims to conserve marine biodiversity in international waters.

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