Ships

Grounded ship

towed clear

After 29 days aground on a mudbank off the south coast of the Papua New Guinea main land, the Niugini Express Lines freighter Waigani Express was refloated in August before the onset of sea conditions which could have ended any hope of salvage. The refloating came at the end of a long and expensive operation in which civil and military helicopters, ships, barges and lugs were used to salvage the cargo and the ship.

Part of the cargo was taken off to lighten the ship, and much of it was taken ashore or loaded into barges by two Chinook helicopters from the Amberley, Queensland, base of the Royal Australian Air Force.

Waigani Express was carry ing 4000 tonnes of frozen and general cargo in containers when it grounded off Hood Point 60 kilometres from Port Moresby while making for Brisbane on the east coast of Australia in July.

Early attempts to move the ship failed, and two-thirds of its length was reported to be aground. Helicopters and the ships own gear were later used to remove part of the cargo, and the tugs Pacific Salvor and Wallacia refloated the Waigani Express and towed it back to Port Moresby during a high tide. The ship will undergo repairs in Singapore.

Ship services

in Micronesia

Palau, the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia have chosen nine commercial shipping carriers to serve ports in their area as part of the integrated transport ar rangements which are being made by the new constitutional governments of the three island states. The decisions were made at a conference on Guam, the

second Micronesian shipping conference to be held since constitutional changes began coming into effect.

The Guam talks received proposals from 13 shipping lines from Micronesia, USA and Japan. The nine carriers whose proposals were accepted in clude six already operating in the area and three newcomers.

The six existing carriers and the new routes approved are: Philippine, Micronesia and Orient Navigation, from the United States to the Marshalls, Ponape, Kosrae, Truk, Yap and Palau. Nauru Pacific Lines, United States to Majuro, Ponape and Truk; and from Australia to Majuro, Ponape and Truk. Tiger Line, Japan and Far East to Truk, Ponape, and Majuro. Palau Shipping, South Pacific to Palau and Yap.

The new carriers and routes approved are: Tokyo Senpaku Kaisha in conjunction with Palau Shipping, Japan and the Far East to Palau and Yap.

Nippon Yushen Kaisha, Japan and the Far East to Truk, Ponape and Majuro. Pacific Common Carrier, Japan and the Far East to Palau and Yap.

The Pacific Common Carrier company is a joint venture operated by Palau Sea and Air Transportation Agency, the Commonwealth Maritime Company of Saipan and the CMBAL Line of Japan.

It was the first time that the new constitutional governments had issued shipping permits.

Under previous arrangements shipping regulation was carried out by the Office of the Trust Territory High Commissioner.

Detailed rules regarding the transfer of shipping regulation powers to the new governments are still under consideration by the United States Department of the Interior following consul tations with the governments.

The ownership of ships oper ated by the Trust Territory government will also be trans ferred to the new governments under arrangements now being

made.

Micronesian News

Service.

Firm steps to restore PNGSC The Papua New Guinea Ship ping Corporation has an nounced that it is taking ‘firm

steps to restore stability and responsibility’ to its operations.

The directors made this com ment after a preliminary audit report showed that a loss of about half a million dollars had been made over the past two years.

The corporation represents PNG’s major entry into nationalised shipping and it was established after a wide-ranging investigation into the type of services which would best suit the country as a commercial venture in its own right and in the interests of PNG export and mport trade.

Newly-appointed directors of he line disclosed the loss after :ommissioning a firm of audi ors to make a report on the :orporation’s financial position.

The audit report showed that hree voyages made last year to he United States west coast iad averaged a loss of about 160 000 each, and no full etails were yet available of two oyages made this year. The srvices took PNG produce to JSA and brought back general argo.

The shipping corporation is also involved in the financial structure of the PNG Line and the New Guinea Australia Line, but these are operated independently and returned a profit.

The Secretary for Transport and Civil Aviation in PNG, Mr John Gaius, said that in basic terms the shipping corporation was viable and steps would be taken to ensure its successful operation.

He denied allegations that his department did not support the shipping corporation. ‘We want to make it a success’ he said.

PNG support

for Forum

For a man who never really supported the Pacific Forum Line from the start, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister, Sir Julius Chan, has become a staunch defender of the project.

As former finance minister he rejected the idea because his country lacked enough money to meet its commitments. But Sir Julius’ predecessor corn

mited Papua New Guinea to the project and he honours that commitment. ‘lt’s the only regional project of its kind and it would be terrible if it fails because others would not take it up,’ Sir Julius told a press conference in Wellington during his recent official tour of New Zealand.

Sir Julius was commenting on his government’s decision to continue financial support for the line. He said; ‘ln any regional project of this kind there are always risks involved.

The easiest way is not to enter into it. ‘But then relationships are not built on talks and politics alone. They need to have some visible sign of achievement, of togetherness, and this is one of them and I don’t think we should throw this shipping pro ject overboard.’

He said that although PNG did not benefit from the PFL, it saw the project as one support ing the islands that did not get shipping services to their part of the world. He believed that the PFL now had sufficient liquidity

and proposals for the restructur ing of its management for it to succeed. ‘I think it will take off and I’m confident it will,’ he

said.

William Gas son in

Wellington.

Vanuatu buys

coastal ship

The 50-tonne coastal ship Namidogodo, which has oper ated for many years in Papua New Guinea, has been bought by a group of Vanuatu nationals as part of a growing movement towards locally-owned shipping services in Vanuatu.

The ship has been bought for $BB 000 by the Nikoletan As sociation of Tanna, and is being renamed Fetukai, which means Morning Star. It will be used for cargo and passenger work in the Vanuatu islands, based at Tanna, and mainly operating between Port Vila and Tanna.

The Birimauri Association of Asanvari recently bought the French government vessel Aquitaine which will be used for operations to Pentecost and Santo.