Shipping

NUKUNONU, Tokelau --- NZ-administered Tokelau is looking for tenders to design and construct a new ship for the tiny islands.

An innovative maritime project is improving the safety and efficiency of domestic maritime services, spurring rural development in Solomon Islands and it is shaping up to be a model for similar projects in the Pacific region as SALLY SHUTE-TREMBATH* reports.

The Rabaul Queen was a vessel doomed to die. When it finally turned turtle, it took more than 200 people—mostly children and students —down with it, mostly trapped in overcrowded cabins, down to the 3,000-metre depths where it now lies.

PNG Maritime College, the Pacific’s premier maritime institution, is steaming ahead with the opening of new facilities to lift the standard of seamen training in the region.

The region’s leading tuna management control authority in the Pacific believes the latest move by the Solomon Islands to give priority to fishing companies that invest in the country would influence investment and offer more employment for locals.

On January 13, 2012, the world witnessed one of the worst cruise ship disasters in decades.

Domestic shipping services in many Pacific islands countries are far from adequate.