PAPUA New Guinea and Tuvalu have a lot to offer the shipping industry, Goundar Shipping owner George Goundar (pictured right) said.
His comments follow the return of the Lomaiviti Princess I from Port Moresby two weeks ago where it was taken for dry-docking. He said there was room in PNG for the expansion of Fiji’s shipping business. He announced the company’s plans to go regional through the acquisition of its third vessel. “I’m heading up to Canada in two weeks to get our third vessel, which is longer than the Lomaiviti Princess I. I plan to use the third vessel for international trade,” he said. The Lomaiviti Princess I is the largest locally owned ship, Goundar said. The Lomaiviti Princess II, the smaller of the two ships, returned from Tuvalu last week where the need for shipping services was in high demand, he said. “We took 100 passengers to Tuvalu. There’s a lot of trans-Pacific movement,” he said. Goundar Shipping’s third vessel, which was expected to be in the country next March, is larger than the Lomaiviti Princess I. Goundar had revealed plans to purchase his fourth vessel from Tahiti later next year. Prior to his departure for PNG in October, Goundar had announced the company’s intention to go international with its shipping services. “The Lomaiviti Princess I and II will trade locally, while the third one – which is 120m long – is intended to service Pacific island trade,” he said. The Lomaiviti Princess I is 100m long while the Lomaiviti Princes II is 60m in length. “Goods destined for other Pacific islands are stored up for months at the wharf; if someone locally can provide that service to the Pacific islands it would be good. “And also, it’s a benefit for our cadets and seafarers in Fiji to get some international sea time. “This we hope to improve next year through our shipping service,” he said. The soaring demand for the return of the Lomaiviti Princess II to service Tuvalu could not be met this month given the peak season for travel in Fiji’s maritime islands. – Fiji Times “My main focus on this business was on the maritime zone in Fiji. But come February and the slow periods, we will be going back to Pacific islands trade.” – Fiji Times Comments are closed.
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