A representative from the Marine division Pascal Ohoau has welcomed and praised the Church of Melanesia for introducing the new Life-raft centre at the Taroaniara ship yard.
Mr Ohoau said it is pleasing to welcome the arrival of a new servicing facility for life-rafts in the Solomon Islands.
“Solomon Islands, like many of our Pacific neighbours, is an archipelagic nation- made up of many islands. Its population is spread widely throughout its 2000 plus kilometers length and communications are extended and difficult to maintain.
“We have some roads- but not many- and few air services. The sea is our highway network, the domestic shipping services our buses and rail networks. Our communities from Choiseul and Shortlands in the west to Anuta in the east, and from Lord Howe in the North to Renbel in the south, rely almost totally on the shipping services.” he said
He said the wide spread communities rely on ships to bring in essential supplies, to get their surplus produce, copra, cocoa, handicrafts and seafood to the larger markets in the main centres; to get their children to school at the beginning of term and get home at the end; and to get to main centres for health care.
“And so important shipping services should allow the extended families from island communities to keep in touch with relatives in the cities, to get to visit them or to welcome them home for Christmas. To travel safely with expectation that they can return promptly and equally safe.
Mr Ohoau said to make this system work with little stress as possible, our community deserves safe, reliable and frequent shipping services and SIG therefore, committed to assisting the industry to provide those service qualities ¬improving the safety and reliability of the domestic shipping sector, particularly for carriage of passengers.
“Our social fabric relies on it as does our ability to develop industrially and economically. Aside from the paramount need to move passengers and cargo on a day-to-day basis, as a nation we have to be able attract visitors to travel in our ships, both SI citizens and overseas visitors.
He said safer ships are a first step in encouraging more people to travel.
“More people travelling means growing business for ship operators and the revenue to bring better ships, to manage them better and to provide both safety and quality service.”
He said The Marine Department of the Ministry of Transport is committed to work with the industry, and is working on several initiatives aimed at improving Safety and encouraging domestic ship operators to improve vessels, operations and management of those essential transport links.
“In particular, we are in the process of restructuring of the Department that will result in a new entity- the SI Maritime Safety Administration-coming into existence in July 2010. This will replace the Marine Department as SI maritime safety regulator.
“The emphasis for SIMSA will be on improving compliance with safety regulations but it will be achieved by assisting and encouraging the domestic ship operators to comply fully with maritime laws, both those of SI and requirements built into International Convention to which SI is a party, such as the International Maritime Organisation's SOLAS Convention and the Codes - Safety of Life at Sea.
“Ensuring that ships comply with their safety certification is an ongoing and very challenging task, and one that is often made more difficult when ship operators cannot carry out servicing of safety equipment, and particularly life-rafts, either through lack of facility or high costs.
Mr Ohoau said a further initiative currently being activated by the Ministry of Infrastructure Development is Franchise Shipping Scheme.
“This is a program, funded by SIG with the assistance from overseas aid. It is designed to encourage private sector ship operators to provide reliable, frequent services to the remote areas in SI where passenger numbers and cargo volumes do not support regular commercial shipping services.
He said the government supports that initiative because it encourages private sector to provide the services, while assisting with the costs of commercially unsustainable calls.
“Similarly, it supports the sort of development we are seeking here today. The shipyard here in Taroaniara is well established and has a well deserved reputation for high quality workmanship in ship repair, now, to add to its range of products and within an hour or two's steaming from Honiara, the main domestic shipping hub-we have a second facility for servicing lie-rafts, doubling the number in S1.
“I support your initiative and wish you well. There is a clearly defined need for the service you will be offering and any initiative that builds greater safety in the maritime sector deserves success.
“However, that success will be built on service and quality. If the Taroaniara Life Raft Service Station can
• Provide the quality service to the life-raft manufacturers' standards,
• Ensure that its product and services are inline with world's best practice and
• Price competitively
“The facility should become a valuable addition to maritime services sector in SI and may be the region.”
By CHARLES KADAMAN
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