Maritime Industry Impacts Development: Captain Hill
About 95 per cent of trade that take place locally is done through shipping, says Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji acting chief executive officer Captain Philip Hill. He said the maritime industry had an impact on development in any nation, and about 80 per cent of trade was done through shipping, internationally.
He said one of the indicators was how resilient Fiji bounced back after Tropical Cyclone Winston.
“That was made possible through a reliable domestic shipping service providing the construction materials, the rations and relief equipment required in those stricken areas,” Captain Hill said. “MSAF’s objective is to improve the services that we provide, to provide timely and professional services and at the same time take MSAF services to the rural and maritime communities.
“That is part of Government’s initiatives to take services to all communities and that is what we are doing,” he said.
“We also have an obligation where we do training for boat masters and class six restricted master engineer.
“That has been done from 2012 and to date we have trained more than 7600 boat operators and we have continued to do training.”
He said the MSAF was now working in partnership with the Ministry of Youth and Sports to empower youths to gain employment through sustainable fishing and to improve safety on boat operations. MSAF hosted the World Maritime Day celebration at the Sukuna Park in Suva yesterday with the theme “Our Heritage, Better Shipping for a Better Future.” Ten schools took part in the day long event, which began with a procession from the Flea Market to Sukuna Park.
Celebrations also centred around acknowledging seafarers for the high-risk job that they do on board vessels. “Most of us do not appreciate it, but seafarers know the risks that are involved,” Captain Hill said.
“Through their training and their professionalism at sea we have reduced accidents and incidents and have provided safe transportation both internationally and domestically. “We have seafarers, who are engaged in international shipping, very senior seafarers who are there as masters and chief engineers sailing around Europe and South East Asia. “They have not been highlighted anywhere so with this celebration we will also have an award that will be provided in the evening for all stakeholders. “These stakeholders and sea farers will be recognised for their achievements.”