Opportunities opened for exporters

BLUE Star Line is pleased to announce more shipping oppor tunities for exporters to North America in 1991.

Additional to the 1990 shipping opportunities, Blue Star Line has decided to schedule 19 extra northbound calls in 1991 to West Coast North American Ports. The vessels will be the Wellington Star, Southland Star, and the California Star.

From the West Coast, transhipment services will then distribute containers of cargo to East Coast North American destinations. These services provide the best transit times.

Mr Tilley, General Manager of Blue Star Line’s Pacific Services in San Francisco, said that he was impressed with the accelerated growth in Fiji exports in 1990.

“Blue Star Line has a long tradition in getting Fiji exports to their markets. For over 27 years, we carried PAFCO’s products to their numerous markets in Canada and the United States.

“We have been the traditional carriers of Fiji’s green and processed ginger to American and Canadian buyers.

“Blue Star Line vessels also carry Fiji’s quality veneers to the West Coast. We

anticipate that when export timbers come on stream, we will be in a position to offer our service.

“More recently, we have seen a dramatic growth in the export of gar ments from this newly established manu

facturing industry.”

Mr Tilley said he also sees an opportunity in carrying frozen fish from Suva to American markets. Blue Star Line vessels will call every 17 days.

In Suva, commenting on Mr Tilley’s statements, the local agent for Blue Star Line, Francis Hong-Tiy of Burns Philp Shipping, said that he was delighted with the steps taken to increase Fiji export calls. These calls are being inaugurated at an opportune time when confidence in Fiji’s ability to produce and compete in highly competitive markets has been established.

Blue Star Line’s management has always had a serious interest in the development of the growth of the Fiji Islands. In 1988, the registered two of their vessels in Fiji. These vessels, the Wellington Star and the Southland Star have Fijian crews and officers.

In concluding, Mr Hong-Tiy said that one of the special features of Blue Star

Line service was its reliability. This was what exporters required to fine tune production schedules in order to meet export dead lines, and Blue Star Line was dedicated to continuing to provide this high level of quality service to their customers, he said. □ Calendar dates THESE are the in-port dates for the two biggest cruise ships to visit the South Pacific in the near future.

The Queen Elizabeth 2 will be in Lae on February 14. The QE2, with its 1,864 passengers, schedules its visits from 8 am through 6 pm. The Canberra , with 1,641 passengers, will be in Suva, February 11; Yasawa, February 12; and Rabaul, February 23. Port hours for the Canberra are 7:3oam - 7pm in Suva and Bam - 6pm in the other two stops.

Solomons price hike PASSENGERS travelling on govern ment vessels in the Solomon Islands are paying more. The Government says the increase of 25 per cent is to catch up on the rising price of marine fuel. The SIBC says private shipping companies in the country have also increased their fares for the same reason. □