Three-year stand-off in

Ships

Three-year stand-off in PFL wage dispute

A dispute over seamen’s wages involving the Pacific Forum Line and the Tongan and Western Samoan Govern ments on the one hand, and the

International Transport

Workers’ Federation (ITF) on the other, has been ‘sorted out’. ‘The steam has gone out of it,’ according to a senior West ern Samoan Government source quoted in the Apia newspaper. The Observer.

The paper said the ITF had agreed, at a meeting held shortly before in Sydney, to allow a period of two to three years for Western Samoa and Tonga to bring their seamen’s wages up to the ITF-proposed rates.

The dispute arose because Western Samoa and Tonga, who both have ships chartered to PFL, pay their seamen wages much lower than those

required by international union standards.

The problem was aggravated

by the fact that New Zealand, which also owns a ship ( Forum New Zealand) chartered to PFL, does pay the international rates.

In a 1979 proposal to the South Pacific Bureau for Econ omic Co-operation (SPEC), which was considered by ITF as the regional body most closely related to PFL, the union body suggested the wage rates it considered should be paid to the Samoan and Ton gan seamen.

These rates would have to be higher than the current Samoan-Tongan rates, but slightly lower than the New Zealand rates.

When its proposals were not acted upon, the ITF took action, and earlier this year, in Australia and New Zealand,

the Samoan ship Forum Samoa and the Tongan Fua Kavenga were allegedly threatened with black bans.

At the subsequent Sydney

talks, SPEC, Western Samoa

and Tonga were represented,

as well as the union side.

ITF was informed that West ern Samoa and Tonga cannot pay the proposed rates, and would go broke if they did.

Accepting this argument to a large extent, the ITF agreed to the deadline of up to three years for them to begin paying the higher rates.

The senior Western Samoan

Government official quoted by

The Observer said: i don’t want to give the impression that ITF is dictating its terms to us. But since we trade into their waters, their argument is valid.’

The Observer said in con clusion; ‘According to in-

formed sources, PFL pays Western Samoa $4OOO a day for the hire of Forum Samoa. ‘The sources say that the cap tain of Forum Samoa is paid about $67 000 a year, and the highest paid seaman on Forum Samoa gets about $2500 a year.’

George Fulcher

for Forum line

The chairman and board of the Pacific Forum Line have announced the appointment of George W. Fulcher as general manager of the line.

Mr Fulcher, already a prominent identity in South Pacific shipping circles, has worked with member companies of the P&O group in

the United Kingdom and New Zealand for 35 years.

In 1976 he was seconded to the Tongan Government as gen eral manager of Tonga’s national line. Pacific Navigat ion Co Ltd, which was reconstituted in 1977 as Pacific Navigation of Tonga Ltd.

Mr Fulcher is a master mari ner who served with the New Zealand Shipping Company until 1952. He then became cargo superintendent for that company in Liverpool, England.

In 1966 he was made techni cal executive for the NZS Co, London, with responsibilities for setting up unit load oper ations from the UK and USA to Australia and New Zealand.

In 1969 he was made director of the P&O company in Liverpool, Dowie & Marwood, and later managing director.

Of his appointment with PFL, he told PIM in an inter view: ‘l’m looking forward to a growth in Islands exports with the new free access arrange ments with Australia and New Zealand. These should greatly increase the southbound export cargoes from the Islands.’

The ‘free access’ agreements were signed at the meeting of the South Pacific Forum at Tarawa, Kiribati, in July.

Mr Fulcher will be respon sible for the operation of three

hms. Forum Samoa, Forum Lew Zealand and Fua (avenga. Forum Samoa and 7 ua Kavenga were built by Vest Germany for Western iamoa and Tonga respectively.

The Pacific Forum Line also aanages the Benjamin \ownng, which serves Suva rom outlying islands. This ship > owned by Island governments nd New Zealand.

Mr Fulcher, who was based in Sydney while managing Pa cific Navigation of Tonga, has now moved to Apia, head quarters of the PFL.

PFL now has an office in Sydney, at 20 Loftus Street. Mr Julian Joy is the regional man ager.

One More In

Cooks Fleet

A new vessel joined the Cook Islands’ inter-island fleet with the arrival from Peru in July of the MV Tokerau.

The ship is understood to have been built in Holland and

is classified A 1 at Lloyds.

Referring to the addition to the fleet in his Throne Speech in June, Cooks Premier Dr Tom Davis said the new ship would ‘encourage further pro ductivity in the outer islands’.

Two More In

Solomons?

The Japanese Government is

expected to give two 32m long

line fishing vessels to the Solomon Islands Government under its 1980 bilateral aid pro gramme devoted to developing

the SI fishing industry.

Chief Fisheries Officer Douglas Gibson said in July that the gift was then under dis cussion within the Japanese Government. But he expressed confidence that it would be ap proved, and that the ships would arrive in mid-1981.

Mr Gibson said they would be equipped with complete

fishing and freezing facilities.

They would serve as commer cial and training vessels under the management of the National Fisheries Develop ment Company on behalf of the government.

They would be manned by udents from the Fisheries Training School at the Honiara Technical Institute.

Mr Gibson said the govern ment hoped the move would represent the start of a locally based long-line fishing fleet.

Pole and line fishing were already well developed, and the government was seeking other methods in an effort to develop the industry further.

In Brief . . .

• The Marine Training School at Mulifanua, Western Samoa, has been officially opened.

Minister of Marine Asi Eikeni delivered the formal address at the opening ceremony, which was attended by Tupua Tama sese Lealofi IV, Prime Minister Tupuola Efi, and the Honorary Consul of the Federal Repub lic of Germany, William Keil, who officially handed over the school to the government of Western Samoa. • Fiji’s Blue Lagoon Cruises Ltd is making international in quiries for a sixth ship to help it cope with demand on its

three-day and six-day cruises

from Lautoka. Company chair man David Wilson says ship

ping companies and brokers

have been told the company urgently wants a ship with a passenger capacity of about 80, and a shallow draft for island anchorages. ‘Because of the pressing need to expand our

fleet we will probably buy rather than build,’ he said. The Fiji Government’s Marine Department has, however, sub mitted a design proposal for a vessel to be built locally. At last report. Blue Lagoon was study ing this. • Despite a ban on Soviet ship ping movements in protest at the Russian presence in Afghanistan, Solomon Islands recently allowed a Russian ship to berth for three days while a sick crewman underwent an appendix operation in Honiara. The 2500-tonne Poyma, carrying a cargo of frozen fish, was given per mission to berth on humani tarian grounds after an exchange of radio messages with Honiara. Shore leave was not granted to the crew during the visit. • Philippines, Micronesia &

Orient Navigation Company

(PM&O Lines) has announced the appointment of Thomas L.

Nolle as marketing director.

George Fulcher