Briefly

•Sail power is unsuitable for

uvalu, according to a Sydney

aval architect, Mr Warwick ood. Mr Hood made a study ‘ the possibility of sail power hen looking at alternatives to

esel-powered shipping,

eather information from the

>uth Pacific Air Transport

Duncil’s station at Funafuti owed there was not enough nd for sailing boats. There is too much calm weather d winds blowing in the •ong direction to make the

ding ship idea technically

•ssible on the inter-island

ute required.

t The Fiji Medical Depart

mt ship, Vuniwai, sank mys iously at the Marine :partment wharf at Walu y, Suva, in April, and no dy ever found out why. But lat is known is that the cost

replacing equipment and

erior fittings will be between 30 000 and $l5O 000. When

she will get back into service depends on the availability of the money required. She is

being repaired and restored by

the Fiji Marine Department. It took the Marine Department two days to refloat the Vuniwai. The police are inves

tigating the possibility of

sabotage.

• Passing almost unnoticed amid the excitement over independence for the Solomon Islands was the opening of a new air service by Solair be tween Honiara and Santo in the New Hebrides. The service, apart from the convenience for local people wishing to travel between the two countries, will give the tourist industry in the area a boost. It will also be of benefit to company represen tatives. • Air Pacific is looking at the

Australian-designed Nomad,

the Canadian Twin Otter and the Northern Ireland Skyvan, as possible alternatives for its three Trislanders. According to Mr Alan Bodger, general man ager of the airline, the Trislanders are too small and have too short a range for the

future needs and development of Air Pacific’s routes. As well as carrying more passengers, the three aircraft under evaluation had a longer range and could service airfields as far away as Funafuti, which were out of range for the Trislander and too small for the turbo prop HS74Bs. • Pacific Line Ltd, which has been operating a New Zealand-Fiji service for three vears is about to renlace the years, is about to replace the Tm Cakau with a roll-on rolloff ship. The switch is being made because of the high cost in operating a conventional ship such as the Tui Cakau. Pacific Line Ltd chartered the Tui Cakau from Sofrana Express Line. Pacific Line Ltd is owned by Sofrana, Carpenters and a trade union which is now deregistered. The union covered seamen and waterside workers. South Pacific Island Airways, which operates internal services in Tonga, in addition to services between America and Samoa, plans to add another Otter aircraft to its fleet in October. The aircraft,

which the president, manager and owner of SPI A. Mr George Wray, estimated would cost SUS92O 000, will carry 20 pass engers. It will have a com pletely furnished rest room, and a specially designed cargo

pod.

• The Fl Ji Government will spend more than $3OO 000 to buy two landing 9 raft • The y will be 1156(1 in the inter-is land trade. The P urchase 15 necessary because m 1977 the Tasilai foundered and the Duiyabaki grounded .

The j oss G f those two vessels was offset to some extent late in 1977 when the Yaubula was commissioned. The govern ment decided to buy re placements as it would take mu Jr h lon B er to build new cra t -0 Mr C. A. Shaw, recently a tutor in aircraft engineering a t the New Zealand Technical Correspondence Institute, has gone to Western Samoa to set up a civil aviation training centre in Apia. He will train Polynesian Airlines main tenance staff from new entrants to experienced

engineers.