Removal notice issued for Fiji vessel which capsized
The offices of Fiji inter-island ferry company Goundar Shipping in Suva.
Photo:
RNZ / Jamie Tahana
The CEO of Maritime Safety Authority Fiji says the vessel
Lomaiviti Princess II
"went down" after being towed out of Narain Jetty in Suva by the Fiji Ports Cooperation.
Joweli Cawaki said
Lomaiviti Princess II
was unmanned when it capsized at about 4pm on Monday and nobody was injured.
"The boat just tilted to one side and dig in water and took in water and it went down," Cawaki said.
The vessel had been tied up at Narain Jetty since 2019.
The Fiji Ports Authority - which runs the jetty - served Goundar Shipping which owns
Lomaiviti II
a removal notice.
"Ports came in with a tug and pulled the vessel out; once the vessel was pulled out, it went down," Cawaki said.
"It was a risk in all senses of the word risk - it took up space at the wharf and it's been used as Gounder Shipping as a dumping ground and now that it has sunk, it has sunk where there is a channel."
He said other vessels could hit
Lomaiviti Princess II.
It is sitting in just under two metres of water.
Cawaki said a boom used to contain oil spills is around the ship and people are watching at all times for any oil leaks.
"According to Goundar Shipping there's not much in the inside of the vessel, in terms of the chemicals and the oil."
He said the ship could be salvaged by pumping out the water and blocking the holes.
Cawaki said a meeting today would decide what would be done with vessel.
On May 26, passenger ferry
Lomaiviti Princess VII
ran aground in Ono-i-Lau, and it was towed back to shore by
Lomaiviti Princess XII
which also took the stranded passengers.
RNZ Pacific
reached out to Goundar Shipping managing director George Goundar who refused to comment.
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