Pacific Transport

Tongan Shipping Wallowing

In A Heavy Sea Of Debt

From a Suva correspondent

Proposals for the establishment of a regional shipping line are still being developed here in Suva by the South Pacific Bureau for Economic Co-operation (SPEC) in spite of the critical state of Tonga’s Pacific Navi gation Company. It is not long since Pacific Navigation was being hailed, as the South Pacific’s shipping success story. Any questioning of the neces sity for a regional line was countered with claims about the success of Pacific Navigation.

However, the financial state of Toi\ga’s line is now so serious that it is reportedly attempting to borrow $200,000 to pay creditors who might, otherwise, take legal action against it. Principal creditors are understood to be Burns Philp in Fiji and Kar lander in Australia.

In late 1975 Pacific Navigation’s assets were understood to have been valued at a mere $140,000, while its liabilities were nearly $750,000.

Losses over the past three years are said to have totalled more than $1.3 million.

A principal recipient of the blame for this state of affairs was alleged to be Pacific Navigation’s ex-general manager Captain Chris Hill-Willis.

Captain Hill-Willis, the ebullient, colourful and, by turns, charming or somewhat ill-mannered general man ager of Pacific Navigation, left Tonga rather unexpectedly in the middle of 1975.

While not doubting the sincerity of his concern for Tonga's advance ment in the maritime field, many people in Tonga felt that his en thusiasm for shipping did not suf ficiently compensate for the com pany’s weaknesses in other areas of management.

For example, had the company’s annual accounts been more up to date, the extent of the company’s losses might have been realised earlier.

Captain Hill-Willis first went to work in Tonga from Brisbane as master of the Tonga Copra Board’s MV Aoniu. He later became Harbour

Master at Nukualofa, before moving as manager to Pacific Navigation’s predecessor, the Tonga Shipping Agency. There he replaced Mr Peter Corbett who, after a period as a United Nations shipping expert, is now manager of Burns Philp’s shipping division in Suva.

Since Captain Hill-Willis’ departure, Pacific Navigation has been managed by Mr Sione Faletau, brother of Tonga’s High Commissioner in London. Mr Faletau was originally ship’s engineer before going ashore to run the company’s engineering workshop.

Unfortunately, it seems unlikely that he can bring to the job the skills needed to solve Pacific Navigation’s current problems.

The recent loss through sinking in the Haapai Group of Pacific Navi gation’s landing craft the Kao, and the company’s reported inability to afford a replacement, seem a far cry from mid-1975 when the talk was of buying a 65,000 tonne bulk carrier with a loan from the Government of Bahrain, In that connection King Taufa ahau Jupou IV, together with acting F, nance Minister Sione Tapa, Sec <° Government Taniela Tufui and Pacific Navigation s general manager Chris Hill-Willis, made a fruitless visit to Bahrain.

Critics in Tonga are now asking whether the government would not have been better spending its time on problems a little nearer home, When the question of Pacific Navi-

A FOURTH JET TO SERVE AIR NAURU'S

New Pacific And Asian Routes?

Air Nauru is expanding rapidly its services in the central and southern Pacific regions and to parts of Asia. A number of new services, planned up to 12 months ago, were launched recently. These make acquisition of another aircraft almost inevitable. Air Nauru’s present jet fleet consists of a Boeing 737 and two F2Bs.

Two big moves recently were con clusion of an agreement with UTA to serve Wallis Island, Noumea and Vila, and fly a new route to Hong Kong, via Manila. Rights were granted recently at Manila and also at Ponape and Guam.

The agreement with UTA is, in effect, a charter. It is for two years, with an option for renewal. The flights are programmed to connect with international services to Nou mea. There is one Wallis Island return flight from Vila sandwiched between three or four ferry services connecting Noumea and Vila. The New Hebrides can expect a big in flux of tourists with these new' ser vices from Noumea.

Granting of rights at Manila was celebrated with a special flight from Nauru, carrying a number of VIPs.

On the next flight through Manila, with earlier stops at Palau and Manus Island, Air Nauru inaugurated its second weekly Nauru-Hong Kong Service.

The stops at Manus Island and Palau on the Hong Kong, via Manila, service are for refuelling.

Air Nauru’s other Hong Kong flight is via Guam and Taipei.

In the Pacific Islands, Air Nauru now calls, outside Nauru, at Tarawa, Majuro, Wallis Island, Western Samoa, Fiji, Solomon Islands, New Hebrides, New Caledonia, Palau, Manus Island, Guam, Ponape and the Philippines. In Asia it calls at Okinawa, Taipei, Hong Kong and Kagoshima in Japan. There is also the service to Australia, via Noumea.

This service terminates at Melbourne.

Occasionally, if there is a full air craft, it will land at Brisbane to refuel, but no passengers are landed there or picked up.

gation’s losses was discussed in Tonga’s Legislative Assembly in July, 1975, the Haapai People’s Representative ’Uliti Uata summed up the general feeling when he said that the losses would be bearable if the company provided a useful ser vice to the country, but this was not the case.

According to Dr Tapa, acting Minister of Finance, all losses are the responsibility of the two principal shareholders, Government and the Commodities Board.

Meanwhile, in Fiji, SPEC, is con tinuing with its planning of the pro posed regional line and is relying heavily on the skills of Mr De Vlaming, a UN shipping expert of Dutch nationality. A constitution and financial structure for the pro posed line are to be considered at a Regional Shipping Advisory Board and Council meeting in April when it is understood a working capital of $0.5 million will be proposed.

New Zealand is understood to be considering advancing this sum as a low interest long-term loan. It is per haps interesting to note that Mr Mahe Tupouniua, SPEC’s director since 1972 and a supporter of the proposed regional shipping line was, when he was Minister of Finance in Tonga, a strong supporter of the establishment of the Pacific Navi gation Company.

If Tonga’s experience is any in dication, then the members of the proposed line would be well-advised to place the sharing of operating losses fairly high on their agenda at the forthcoming meeting.

Air Niugini Sheds

Dc3 Services

Papua New Guinea’s Minister for Transport Bruce Jephcott did not take long to implement a promise to change the pattern of air services in Papua New Guinea. Soon after he took over his portfolio early this year he said services would be rationalised and costs would be cut.

Early in March he announced that third level airlines would take over some of Air Niugini’s domestic ser vices, particularly the scheduled, but unprofitable, DC3 routes. In return, the third level operators would get Feeder services connecting Air Niu ?ini Fokker Friendship services at the most convenient airports.

DC3s were taken off services from Port Moresby to Kokoda, Bulolo, Talasea, Garaina and Vivigani.

Talair and Douglas Airways (for merly Aerial Tours) took over and, hrough a re-arrangement of sche dules, maintained services to these ;entres.

Mr Brian Grey, general manager

of Air Niugini, considered the rationalisation would improve air ser vices to the public and reduce Air Niugini’s costs.

Third level operators, at the same time, sought an increase in fares for scheduled services. Talair asked for a 15 per cent hike. Douglas Airways wanted a “substantial” rise. Mr Dennis Buchanan, managing director of Talair, said the third level airlines were operating at a very economical level—in fact, below an economical level.

Gilberts Arrange Air

Service To Christmas

Mercer Airlines, of California, USA, will operate an air service be tween Tarawa and Christmas Island, 1,750 miles to the east. The Gilbert Islands’ Chief Minister, Mr Naboua Ratieta, has signed an agreement with the airline providing for the training of Gilbertese as air hostesses and for help in civil aviation train ing. There was no indication initially of when the service would start, how often it would operate, or of the type of aircraft which would be used.

Air Pacific runs other internal ser vices in the Gilberts.

Keeping Morobe

Boats Up To Scratch

Boat owners had to watch for mechanical and other problems asso ciated with keeping their boats up to required standards, the Morobe Harbour Master, Captain Foulkes, told a recent meeting of the Morobe Coastal Shipping Association. They had to have adequate emergency equipment, and needed to know how to keep a boat in good condititon Mr Nigel Porteous, president of the Papua New Guinea Shipping Association, said that all commercial boats over 10 metres long had to undergo an annual survey to ensure they were in good condition. The harbour master and the engineering surveyor carried out the surveys. At present boats of less than 10 metres were not required to undergo annual survey.

The association intends to provide facilities at Voco Point, Morobe, for coastal boat operators. These include cargo sheds, toilets and better wharf facilities. • Rabi Holdings Ltd, of Fiji, a Banaban organisation, is in the mar ket for a ship to replace its “trouble some” Komaiwai, 400 tons, which it sold to Williams Shipping, of Australia, for $70,000.

Mr Tekote Rotan, managing direc tor of Rabi Holdings, said he was looking for a ship with better passen ger accommodation than that in the Komaiwai and with a good opera tional engine.