From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 14, no. 2, May 1999.

The future is uncertain for Tonga’s Fuakavenga, and Samoa’s Forum Samoa, the two container ships that make regular visits to Nuku‘alofa.

The Pacific Forum line will consider ending their charter of the ships at the end of this year, said John MacLennan, Chief Executive of the Pacific Forum Line.

“One of the very difficult decisions that we have to make now is what to do with the Forum Samoa and the Fuakavenga. Both ships are 21 years old, but once a ship gets to 20 it is becoming less efficient. With the new technology new ships are faster and more fuel efficient.” He said that the world shipping industry was depressed, there were surplus ships available for charter, and the charter rate had come down. “We are having a dialogue with the owners now, pointing out our concern and what could happen if our competitors will access these cheaper and more fuel efficient vessels. It is a very difficult question particularly with regards to the Fukavenga because it is getting old and very expensive to run. The Forum Samoa has been sold and is currently on charter to the PFL and pretty soon we will be able to exit that ship and replace it with another ship.”

Talks

John said that the PFL Charter Agreement with the Fuakavenga would expire at the end of this year. “We will then sit down and talk: shall we renew the agreement, or will we then say: look it is no longer economical for both of us to continue to use the ship. We will have to find a solution that is acceptable to the PFL and the Shipping Corporation of Polynesia Ltd.” The Fuakavenga is owned by the Tonga government’s Shipping Corporation of Polynesia Ltd.

John said that the PFL would continue to improve and expand its service to the islands because the trend now was for big ships carrying 6,000 containers and sailing straight from Asia to the USA. These ships are so big that they could not even come to Auckland, he said. But bigger ships had started to come into New Zealand and Australia, ships which were too big to come to the Pacific Islands, “and that is where the Pacific Forum Line fits in—providing a feeder operation,” he said.