“Co-operation”, W. German-style

Enter Samoan Shipping Services Ltd: “Co-operation”, W. German-style

West Germany, and its Hamburg-based Columbus Line, have moved Into Western Samoa in a big way with the formation of the new company, Samoan Shipping Services Ltd, in which Columbus is an equal partner with the Western Samoa Government. A PIM transport writer reports.

West Germany is about to become involved in shipping in Western Samoa, and possi bly Tonga as well through “economic co-operation”, which is the West Germans’ way of describing aid to u n d e r - d ev e lo pe d and developing countries. The first tangible result is ex pected to be a container ship, which may be chartered to the Forum Line.

Construction of the ship should start in April and delivery may be in November.

The Hamburg-based Colum bus Line is closely linked with the venture, as an adviser to the West German Govern ment and, initially at least, as an equal partner in the ship ping line, Samoan Shipping Services Ltd, with the Western Samoa Government.

Because of the lack of con tainer handling facilities on Apia, the ship to be built will be a combined lift-on-lift-off roll-on-roll-off (1010-roro) type. Eventually it may be converted to a full 1010 ship.

It will be of 4 000 deadweight tonnes, with a capacity for 262 TEU containers, and self-sus taining cranes to unload con tainers on the boat deck.

There will be room for 82 full containers and 30 empties on the boat deck, and 150 on the vehicle deck. Eighty of the containers will be for refrige rated cargo.

The scheme will lead to a shipping line wholly owned ana operated by Western Samoa. At present however, Western Samoa lacks almost everything required to op erate a shipping line on a profitable basis capital, shipping, trained marine and land staff and viable routes.

This is where West Germa ny and Columbus come into the picture. Mr Erwin Ludewig, president of Colum bus, takes a keen interest in Pacific affairs, and in partic ular is most interested in the proposed shipping venture.

He is a regular visitor to the South Pacific, and in 1977 was in the area four times. He met top-ranking government men in Western Samoa and later

again in West Germany.

As a result of these visits Sa moan Shipping Services Ltd was formed on December 5.

Ownership is half by Colum bus and half by the Western Samoa Government. The board includes two Ministers from Western Samoa Mr Asi Eikeni (Economic Affairs, Communications and Transport) and Mr Neroni Slade (Attorney-Gen era I).

Columbus men on the board are Mr Achim Drescher, regional director, South Pacific, and Mr R. Brown, of Columbus Line, New Zea land.

Samoan Shipping Services has opened an office in Apia.

Captain Horst Rassow, of Western Germany, is acting as joint general manager han dling administration and op erations. A second general manager will be appointed for commercial operations. Re mainder of the staff will be Samoans, except for another administrator yet to be ap pointed.

The ship will be crewed by Samoans in time. But at present there are no qualified Samoan officers, and very few Samoan seamen. Apparently the intention for the present is that West Germany, or in par ticular Columbus, will fill the gap. But the whole aim of the operation is to give Western Samoa a shipping line.

As Mr Drescher put it to PIM: “The object is to train their personnel and work our selves out of our jobs in Western Samoa.”

Samoan Shipping Services has no ships at present and naturally has nothing with which to give the fledgling staff practical maritime ex perience. But it is possible that the new inter-island ve hicle-passenger ferry, Queen Salamasina, will come under the management of the newly formed shipping line, and this will provide some practical experience, although in a very limited way in terms of what is required for an international shipping operation.

Mr Drescher has been ac tive in moves to get Tonga

into the scheme, and made four visits to the kingdom in 1977. Just before the end of the year, with Mr Ludewig, he went to Auckland to meet King Taufa’ahau Tupou, who had been in NZ for a medical check. With the king were Baron Vaea and the Tonga Crown Solicitor, Mr David Tupou.

The subject discussed in Auckland, and on earlier visits to Tonga, was economic co-operation. Mr Ludewig and Mr Drescher outlined to the Tongans how they could acquire a modern ship, simi lar to the one which will go into service for Western Samoa.

It can be forecast fairly con fidently that the king, who is always on the lookout for chances to expand Tonga’s economy, will look very closely at what Columbus and West Germany have propos-

Transport

ed. Tonga has one big advan tage over Western Samoa should she decide another ship will be a viable proposi tion. She has trained maritime crews even if perhaps not enough. But she woula soon be ready to take over a ship. Tonga also has ready access to shipping ex pertise through the recent for mation of Pacific Navigation of Tonga, which is backed by the experience of P&O, a Danish company, Burns Philp (SS) Cos Ltd, and a Sydney management consultancy.