Shipping Services Warned to Shape Up

Shape up!

This was the common sentiment shared by parliamentarians from Government and Opposition over the state of the country's inter-island shipping industry.

This comes after concerns were raised about the atrocious condition of inter-island shipping services provided to the Fijian public lately.

The recent mishap on Lomaiviti Princess III (LP III) that carried close to 200 people to and from Kadavu for the weekly rugby competition in Kadavu last week has sparked alarming concerns among the MPs.

Goundar Shipping's Lomaiviti Princess III encountered an engine failure when the vessel ran out of electricity and water.

The vessel had to be towed to Suva by another company vessel, the Lomaiviti VII, on Sunday.

Unpleasant pictures have been widely shared on social media depicting the awful state the ship's toilets and lounge were in when it was without water and electricity in the middle of the ocean for close to ten hours.

Malolo women's rugby team manager Kinisimere Soqeta, who was on board LP III when the mishap occurred, claimed the engine of the vessel went off at around 3.30am on Sunday in the middle of the open seas.

This left the passengers without electricity and water until it was towed by Lomaiviti Princess VII reaching Narain Jetty in Suva safely around 3pm on Sunday.

MV Lomaiviti Princess 3 vessel (left) being towed by MV Lomaiviti Princess 7.

Minister for Transport Ro Filipe Tuisawau has ordered that an investigation be carried out to determine the type of checks carried out on the vessel by the Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji (MSAF) before it departed last Friday.

He has warned that they would come down hard on inter- island vessels not in a state to be carrying passengers. Ro Filipe has also directed his permanent secretary to ensure that a emergency meeting with the MSAF is convened about the issue.

An update on this will be issued soon, the minister assured. Former Minister for Transport and Opposition MP, Jone Usamate, said the priority of the travelling public must be prioritised.

"I just came back from a trip to Kadavu, the ship was delayed for a very long time and there have been issues with that particular boat," Mr Usamate said.

"Knowing the fact that the ship gives services, it must be in good condition. I urge MSAF and service providers to ensure the ship needs to be in good condition so passengers can travel comfortably."

Malolo women's team manager Ms Soqeta said they were challenged by the situation they had to be in during the mishap with the vessel on Sunday.

The Malolo senior women's, men's and 020 teams challenged Kadavu at the Namalata grounds in Kadavu on Saturday.

The LP III had transported close to 100 team members and officials on Friday night.

"We were without water and electricity since the mishap happened in the wee hours of the morning until we got to Suva at around 3pm on Sunday," Ms Soqeta said.

"We had no water then we had to buy water for $8 a bottle.

''At around 3.30am we were waiting for Lomaiviti Princess VII to come and tow the vessel from where we were in the middle of the ocean.

"We were in complete darkness in the night and the vessel was very very hot because there was no aircon."

The Fiji Sun visited the Goundar Shipping office in Walu Bay yesterday, but officers confirmed that director George Goundar was in Japan and he was the only one who would comment.

The Fiji Sun also sent an email and made repeated calls to Mr Goundar in Japan but no response was received when this edition went to press.

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