Transcript
SITIVENI HALAPUA: The main problem here for the islands, they are very very far from Nuku'alofa, which is the hub of shipping services in Tonga. So the government shipping service can only provide service to the islands very irregularly - once every two months and sometimes less, but not that often. For two reasons. One, is the cost of fuel. To give you an example the government ship would have to come up with about $60,000 just to put fuel in the tank before you can sail to these two islands. And that raises the other problems, because the islands are fairly small, they don't have many cargoes to carry or many passengers. So the cost of running service to the islands far exceeds the kind of revenue they can get. So as a result the service depends on subsidy and the government as we well know, Tonga is not a rich country. We cannot afford that subsidy, which means it is not uncommon for these islands to face shortages of basic needs. Therefore the service we plan to provide and reduce the scale. We had to design a boat that can provide small cargo, small passenger [numbers] but be more regular to meet their needs.
DON WISEMAN: A small boat, but how small?
SH: Well we are talking about a 50 feet long trimaran, sailing cargo. Using sails - there is a small engine that is basically for entering and leaving the harbours in the islands, because they are quite tricky and can be dangerous.
DW: But 50 feet long, it is not a boat that is going to be able to accommodate very much in terms of cargo, is it?
SH: Compared to the boat. We only talk about 4 tonne of cargo, which is quite sufficient if you consider the size of the islands' population. For the two islands it is about 1300 people, divided into two it is about 600 each.
DW: Now the boat's been built, where?
SH: It is built here in Pipiroa. So that company has been building this boat for the last four years. Now it is ready to go in the water. But the finishing, the rigs, and sails and other equipment they have to be done at Half Moon Bay. So the launching involves launching the boat into the water and then bringing the boat to Half moon Bay and then we will base the ship, I mean the boat, here in Auckland harbour, and then do some test runs to meet the legal requirements of the government of New Zealand. According to the law of New Zealand this is going to be an export from New Zealand to Tonga, even though we bought it privately. So we have to meet requirements before they are able to sail to Tonga and provide the service.
DW: When do you think you will be going into service in Tonga?
SH: Well I am thinking about some time at the beginning of next year. You know we have to consider the fact that this is the hurricane season, but we still have to meet all these requirements before we look at the best time to take the boat to Tonga next year.
