‘Carrier for tuna a must’

FRESH tuna export industry in PNG needs a dedicated carrier to ship the products to Japan, Blaise Baru, a Papua New Guinean who has been exporting the fish to Japan for the last 10 years, said.
He also said the government should also help with development of basic infrastructure like  waterfront facilities dedicated solely to the tuna industry.
He said PNG tuna was the most prized in the world but the facilities such as a dedicated wharf and facilities for tuna fishing vessels were lacking. The infrastructure at present catered only for the “big boys” who were involved in down-stream processing  such as canning, but the small-to- medium operators who exported directly were not taken into consideration.
In comparison to Guam, Federated States of Micronesia and the Maldives, the governments were responsible for constructing wharves, airports to take large freighters and even provided special customs and quarantine services for seamen at wharves.
Baru’s company Equatorial Marine was in joint venture with Japanese group Sanko Bussan (PNG) Ltd to export tuna directly to the Sashimi markets in Japan every week.
His company exports between 25 to 30 tonnes of fresh tuna to Japan, making his operation the largest fresh tuna exporter in PNG.
The company planned to increase exports by 100%, but it was restricted by the type of aircraft available to uplift cargo.
The former cargo manager of Air Niugini, Baru said the national airline seriously needed to look at improving the cargo business as well as catering for passenger needs.
This call was timely with the increased business activities associated with the mining and petroleum sector. 
Japanese company Chiyoda was constructing the PNG LNG liquefaction plant near Port Moresby, and timing was perfect for a dedicated freighter service to run between Japan and the NCD.
Air Niugini could not be reached for comment yesterday.