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HERALD WEEKLY ISSUE 436 : 03 December 2008

Government may back Taio Shipping bid for vessel

There may be some good news soon for outer islanders in relation to the shipping service.
Transport Minister Hon Tangata Vavia advised today (Wednesday) that on Tuesday he took a submission to Cabinet proposing some financial assistance for Taio Shipping who were considering purchasing a vessel from Norway. Cabinet is to meet on Thursday to consider the submission. Vavia said around $500,000 was being sought.
Tapi Taio of Taio Shipping has recently returned from Norway and is in the process of considering the purchase of a vessel for around $600,000. He indicated it would cost about $1 million to have it brought out.
The shipping issue came to a head in parliament last week when Atiu MP Nandi Glassie tackled Vavia over government’s stalling on the matter.
Glassie told the Herald on Tuesday he is angry and frustrated that there appears to be no commitment on the part of government to acquire vessels to service the outer islands.
Glassie said he is concerned at reports he is receiving from the outer islands of shops running out of basic foodstuffs due to the current shipping schedule. He said shops in the outer islands are now relying on the more costly air service to freight goods. (It costs 23 cents a kilo to freight goods by sea compared to around $5 per kilo by air). He said people in the outer islands are asking their relatives on Rarotonga to send items such as sugar, corned beef, tinned fish and even bread.
Glassie said this is why he raised the matter of the shipping service during question time in parliament last week.
Glassie said in answer to his question, Minister for Transport Hon Tangata Vavia responded that government was waiting to purchase a boat and was hoping the Chinese would assist with the $10 million cost through providing a soft loan. The vessel would be similar to the Tahitian vessel “Tahitian Nui” which government chartered recently to bring teams from the northern group to Rarotonga for Te Maiva Nui.
Glassie says the proposal to purchase a vessel is now over two years old and government does not seem to be taking the issue seriously. He said advice he had from Tapi Taio of Taio Shipping was that the practical solution was to have two vessels at $5 million each, -one to service the north and one to service the south with a further vessel that could also act as a standby.
Glassie said government was holding $14 million in reserve due to pending litigation against government by Triad over a previous shipping deal. He feels some of that reserve could be used to assist Taio Shipping which is taking the matter more seriously than government. Glassie thinks government should be up front and admit what its intentions are. If they are not going to proceed then at least consider some form of assistance to Taio Shipping.
Tapi Taio of Taio Shipping advised the Herald earlier if government acquired a vessel similar to the “Tahiti Nui”, he estimated the cost of fuel to run such a vessel to Manihiki and back would be about $40,000. Available freightage would not be enough to recover this cost said Taio. He estimates it could cost government as much as $1 million a year to subsidize the vessel even if the management and operation were contracted out.
Taio said Taio Shipping has not increased its freight charges since 1992 and currently charges 23 cents per kilo for freight.

Herald Issue 436 03 December
- Tupa back as Acting Director
- Government may back Taio Shipping bid for vessel
- Adaptation: major focus for Cooks in Poznan
- Doubts over Doctors diagnosis raised!
- Chamber concerned at Government intervention