Storm in island ports

Aviation, Shipping, Motoring

By Davendra Sharma

‘The sinkings had nothing to do with safety procedures, they were just bad luck’

THE sinking of a quarter of the ships registered in Cook Islands in past five years has tarnished the country’s image as a safe international finance centre, the Interna tional Transport Workers Federation has claimed.

The claim has been strongly denied by the Cook Islands Government.

The union claims that the Cook Islands has failed to ensure that ships registered there adhere to safety stan dards.

The Cooks Islands Minister for Ship ping, Vaine Tairea, angrily denies the allegations.

He describes them as “an insult to the Cook Islands”.

The union claims that five of the 20 Cook Islands registered ships have sunk since 1987.

Tairea said the sinkings had nothing to do with safety procedures, they were just bad luck.

He said all ships registered in the Cook Islands must fall within international classification safety standards and also meet international conventions.

Inquiries into the sinkings have so far shown overloading and weather to be the main factors.

The Danish chairman of the ITWF’s seafaring section, Mois Sorensen, said the loss of five of the fleet’s 20 vessels has got to be a world record. He said his union would be asked to hang the label “flag of convenience”.

It also urged the federation’s London secretariat to place union inspectors throughout the world on alert to pay special attention to the safety standards of Cook Islands vessels visiting their ports. The federation would request

major shipping entities like Llyods to withdraw classifications from any Cook Islands vessels failing to meet interna tional safety standards.

The last two ships to sink were the Celtic Kiwi in the high seas north of New Zealand and Polynesian Link in Suva Harbour. Tairea said all ships registered in the capital of Avarua were strictly required to fall within international classification safety standards and also meet international conventions.

He said the sinkings could not be linked to safety procedures as prelimi nary inquiries showed overloading and weather were responsible for the acci dents.

Tairea said it was improper for the I MU to claim that the vessels registered in Avarua fall below international safety standards.

Cook Islands, Vanuatu and the Marshall Islands operate the region’s main registries for foreign ships.

Fiji ports downgraded

Fiji also received a blow in March when it was downgraded on a regional list of efficient port centres.

It means that Fiji was treading on dangerous lines if it fails to improve its image in shipping circles, the national

chamber of commerce said. It could easily be regarded as an unsafe port for transit cargo, the chamber warned.

It argued that Fiji was becoming a concern for the high rate of pilferage at Suva and Lautoka wharfs. High costs of freight, insurance and security were also potential bottle-necks.

Malaysia, meanwhile, intends to in crease shipping and air links with Fiji following the visit by its Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir, to Nadi last year. Dr Mahathir had said then that Kuala Lumpur could use Fiji as a transit for cargo ships to South America. Flights to Auckland are to be routed through Nadi.

A Malaysian trade delegation to Suva in March announced that shipping and possibly air links between the two countries would be set up by around June or July.

Malaysia’s foreign affairs secretary, Datuk Ahmad Jaafar, said Malaysian shipping lines are exploring shipping services to Fiji through Papua New Guinea. A Malaysia-Singapore com pany, Borneo Shipping, has been operat ing to Fiji since 1988.

New cruise liner

Anew luxury cruise liner will be calling at tourist ports in the South Pacific in around three years.

It is part of P&O Shipping’s plans to bolster services in the region, attracting increasing tourist interest.

The company has ordered the new liner, costing about SUS3OO million to cart almost 2000 passengerss on round the-world cruises.

The new ship will be the fastest cruise liner built for a quarter of a century with an operating speed of 24 knots. It will become the company’s flagship. It will be delivered for service in 1995. □