Shipping: Island

territories take a growing interest

From a Tonga correspondent This year has seen considerable changes in the Islands shippings scene.

As Burns Philp pulls out of the south west Pacific shipping business, dis posing of services (such as that operated by the Tulagi to New Hebrides and the BSIP)) to the Karlander Line, so Pacific Island governments are showing increased interest in the shipping business.

Nauru, with revenues from the phosphate deposits providing a ready source of finance, already has three vessels operating in the Islands trade.

Indeed, at the recent South Pacific Conference in September, Nauru ap pealed for support from Pacific ter ritories in the operation of its services.

Crews for the Nauruan vessels have been recruited from Tonga and other Pacific territories.

This trend of a growing involve ment of Island governments in both internal and regional shipping services, was taken a step further when the Tonga Government an nounced recently the purchase of a fast new inter-island vessel, the Queen of the Isles.

The vessel, arriving in Tonga by jjrty 1971, will, it is claimed, herald a new era of progress in shipping in Tonga”. The Queen of the Isles will operate twice weekly

between Nukualofa—Pangai—Neiafu,

thus linking the three main island groups of Tongatapu, Ha’apai and Vavau. There will also be less regular schedules to the islands of Niuafo’ou and Niuatoputapu.

The acquisition of the Queen of the Isles dates back to 1968 when a UN shipping adviser visited Tonga to advise on shipping problems.

Among other things, the adviser re commended that a regular internal shipping service be operated by the government between the Tongatapu, Ha’apai and Vavau groups.

This recommendation was taken a step further in 1969 when a UN transport economist carried out a survey to consider the profitability of such a service. Strangely enough, the survey was based on the Queen of the Isles which by that time had already been the subject of enquiries by the Tonga Shipping Agency.

In 1970, with the preparation of Tonga’s second five-year development plan under way, the proposal to purchase the vessel was considered by the government and $T350,000

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was set aside to help in purchasing of the vessel. The vessel was later surveyed in England, and after receiving a favourable report, the government began firm negotiations.

Considerable financial assistance is being given to Tonga in purchasing the vessel, by the British Ministry of Overseas Development.

The Queen of the Isles was originally built in 1965 for the Scilly Islands fruit and vegetable trade with the English mainland. It has a gross registered tonnage of 500 tons, is approx. 150 ft long, with a cargo :apacity of 100 tons, and has a speed of about 14 knots. In addition to :arrying cargo, the boat can also ac :ommodate about 300 day passengers in a number of lounges.

The addition of the Queen of the Isles to the government fleet, and the services which this new vessel will operate, should lead to very con siderable social and economic benefits.

Growers in Vavau and Ha’apai will be able to make weekly shipments of fresh vegetables, etc. to Nukualofa where there is a ready market for them. Handicraft sellers will also be able to easily travel to Nukualofa to sell their goods to visiting cruise ship tourists.

Exports such as copra and bananas :an be carried to Nukualofa more regularly, while imports will also reach Vavau and Ha’apai more regularly. Travelling conditions for passengers, which on boats like the Aoniu are at present primitive and perhaps dangerous, will be greatly improved by the covered passenger accommodation.

The boat will also be a great asset to the country generally, and would be available for other uses. King Faufa’ahau already has his eye on the boat as a means of carrying Fonga’s South Pacific Games team to Tahiti in 1971.

The Queen of the Isles, by open ing up a highway between the three island groups, should help the :ountry’s economic development. It should slow down the movement of population to Nukualofa by making life in the other island groups less isolated, and it should also assist in the development of tourism in Vavau.

The major question now is, with the purchase of the Queen of the Isles, are the proposed airfields at Vavau and Ha’apai still necessary?

It appears that with a seven hour sea iourney to Pangai, and a 14 hour iourney to Naiafu from Nukualofa— and a possible saving of $lOO,OOO by not building the airfields—the

government must surely think seriously about whether they are now necessary or not.

With the rescheduling of Tonga’s Niuvakai on a more profitable Islands service, the acquisition by Nauru of three vessels for the Islands trade, and the forthcoming arrival of the Queen of the Isles in Tonga in the near future, it will be interesting to see which Pacific territory will be the next to move in the field of shipping.