Islands evolve through regional collaboration

Megan Streeter




Changes are happening in Pacific Islands shipping as a result of improved regional collaboration combined with technical support from the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC).
Ministers responsible for maritime transport from Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Tuvalu met recently in the Kingdom of Tonga to decide on issues of common concern.
Also present were representatives from the governments of Australia, New Zealand, Vanuatu and the United States of America.
The evolution of intra-regional trade through regular feeder shipping services to small islands states (SIS) was applauded as a landmark achievement.
A major breakthrough was the signing of an agreement between Kiribati Shipping Services Limited and the governments of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu for the provision of services from Fiji to those islands nations.
Manager of SPC’s Regional Maritime Programme, Captain John Hogan said Pacific Islands countries and territories have become more dependent on sea transport and trade in their need for consumer goods, fuel and other basic items.
“The challenge is to develop efficient, low-cost shipping that is able to overcome distance and isolation and at the same time economically viable,” he said.
The SIS ministerial communiqué endorsed the establishment of a committee to expedite the setting up of a Central Pacific Shipping Commission for interested states. Part of this work involves investigating another feeder shipping service route between Samoa, Tokelau, Cook Islands, Niue and American Samoa.
The committee will prepare a draft framework for a Central Pacific Shipping Commission to accommodate the regulatory concerns and needs of Pacific SIS.
The commission will be similar to the Micronesian Shipping Commission, which regulates the shipping sector in the north Pacific and will serve the needs and interests of SIS in the field of commercial shipping and surface transportation of commercial cargo to and from the ports of signatory nations.
Among other issues discussed by maritime transport ministers was the need for Pacific states to share data and information on employment opportunities for seafarers in the region. This information is vital for efficient planning as well as for marketing the seafaring capacity available in islands nations.
Maritime security was also on the agenda with piracy involving ships flying Pacific nation flags becoming an increasingly grave concern. At the time of the meeting, one Fijian and 12 Tuvaluan nationals were still held hostage by pirates in Somalia.
The first meeting of ministers for maritime transport was held in Samoa in 2007. SPC as the lead agency in the sector took the outcomes onboard and works with regional maritime associations to support capacity building, supplementation and training in areas such as law, planning, management and business development in addition to facilitating maritime training for seafarers and other industry personnel.
In a good example of collaboration, the region utilises locally available maritime legal expertise under the auspices of the Pacific International Maritime Law Association (PIMLA).
Several outstanding issues continue to require the attention of maritime lawyers including acceding to relevant international maritime instruments; the ramifications of operating an Open Registry; updating maritime shipping policies and harmonising shipping laws; addressing constraints surrounding implementation of legislation to incorporate international conventions into national laws; and reforming internal ratification procedures, where necessary.
  “Once you have all the international conventions and instruments incorporated into domestic laws, you then have the legal framework at home to meet your obligations and address issues relating to security and ports,” said Fred Amoa, the President of PIMLA.
PIMLA held its fourth annual general meeting the same week in Tonga.
 There is a need for Pacific islands countries to be more proactive in living up to their international obligations as emphasised by Baron Fialakepa. “But we need to recognise that many countries in the region lack the capacity to fulfill these,” Amoa said.
PIMLA has considered regional collaboration to assist individual countries overcome these difficulties.
Ministers also discussed the need to put in place better port facilities to encourage visitors on cruise vessels to come ashore and contribute to national revenue.
They noted, however, that more visitors meant having to reconsider port and ship security and plans for dealing with search and rescue operations, mass rescue and environmental incidents, along with the need for updated hydrographic information.
Captain Hogan said the introduction of harmonised pilotage regulations in the region coupled with a regional pilot exchange scheme will broaden knowledge and promote experience.
He noted that the work done on minimum standards by the training committee of the Pacific Countries Ports Association (PCPA) needed to be supported.
He also said that invasive species transported via ship hulls or in ballast water had the potential to seriously disrupt local ecology, fisheries, tourism and marine projects. This issue needed urgent attention from national authorities and other partner organisations.

*For more information on the ministerial communiqués, visit www.spc.int/maritime or contact Megan Streeter, SPC Regional Maritime Programme (MeganS@spc.int).