TONGA'S new inter-island ferry, currently being built in Japan, is scheduled to arrive in Nuku'alofa on 20 October this year to restart the domestic inter-islands ferry service in the first week of November.

The ferry designer Watanabe Royonori and a five-members delegation from the ISB Company, including its president Kohei Murashima made a brief stop over in Tonga on Saturday February 27 on their way home after launching a new ferry for Samoa.

Toyonori a naval architect, who is the consultant for the Tongan government on the Japanese-funded project, said that construction of the 53m ferry for Tonga is currently being carried out at the ISB Co. Ltd shipyard at Futtsu City on the entrance to Tokyo Bay.

He told a press conference that the construction of the ferry should be completed by July 6, and then will undergo sea trials. He expected that by September 20 the ferry should be ready to sail for Tonga.

The new Olovaha will be brought to Tonga by a Japanese captain and a crew, accompanied by a Tongan captain and an engineer, and is scheduled to arrive in Nuku'alofa on October 20 and should be ready to begin operation by the first week of November.

Toyonori made a power-point presentation and gave a brief description of the new ferry which is four meters longer than the old Olovaha, and can carry 400 passengers, 60 more than the old ferry. It has a cargo capacity of 400 tonnes, which is 150 tonnes more than the old ferry and has a more powerful engine of 735kw, compared with 700kw of the old Olovaha.

There are no private cabins in the new ferry, but there is one big cabin with 28 bunks. There are also sheltered areas with chairs for passengers.