FERRY BATTLE
Passengers onboard watched as two ferries bound for Nabouwalu came within metres of each other as they headed for Nabouwalu Jetty. A video which has gone viral first showed Interlink’s MV Ohana and
Goundar Shipping’s Lomaiviti Princess
VIII travelling from Natovi to Nabouwalu parallel.
However, once the vessels approached the jetty, it appeared that the Lomaiviti
Princess VIII was picking up speed.
The ships separated before a near miss. This incident took place around 12pm yesterday. MV Ohana owners, Interlink Shipping Line Limited, confirmed they had 140 passengers onboard and 17 vehicles. Interlink Shipping director, Ashish
Kumar, said they were following the timetable issued by the Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji.
“The other company is not following the approved timetable and we are not blocking any ship from berthing,” Mr Kumar said. “According to the timetable we are supposed to be there. Goundar Shipping has a habit of doing this and this is not the first time this has happened.
“On Thursday night, the company’s ship arrived late, blocking our ship and departed late.” Lomaviti Princess VIII owned by Goundar Shipping claimed that the master of Ohana was at fault.
Owner George Goundar said the master should be taken to task.
He claimed the day’s timetable for Natovi to Nabouwalu for MV Ohana was not approved. “The Ministry of Transport should do a thorough investigation,” he said.
“We called the MSAF staff at Nabouwalu to see if we could offload at Nabouwalu.”
Three companies, Patterson Brothers, Interlink and Goundar Shipping, are now servicing the busy Natovi - Nabouwalu route with rollon, roll-off passenger and cargo ferries.
MSAF executive chair David Kolitagane said they would need to investigate the matter before making any comments.
No one was injured in the incident.
The day’s timetable for Natovi to Nabouwalu for MV Ohana was not approved.
George Goundar
Owner of Goundar Shipping Limited
According to the timetable we are supposed to be there. Goundar Shipping has a habit of doing this and this is not the first time this has happened.
Ashish Kumar
Interlink Shipping director