Shipping industry needs coordination mechanism

PAPUA New Guinea’s shipping industry needs a coordination mechanism for it to run effectively to meet the development and service needs of the people.
This was highlighted at the Consultative Implementation and Monitoring Council (CIMC) sea transport sub-committee meeting in Port Moresby recently.
Presentations done by representatives from the Transport Department and the National Maritime Safety Authority (NMSA) showed that the country’s shipping services and service delivery had suffered significantly after the 109 government trawlers that provided these services were sold off.
The committee members raised concern about the deteriorating port facilities in maritime provinces.
Although the government planned to provide effective maritime transport services to disadvantaged communities, the infrastructures were in poor condition and rarely used.
The Asian Development Bank, in an evaluation on community water transport project, said both the remote water transport infrastructure restoration component and the route franchise component – which accounted for 63 per cent of final project costs – were ineffective.
This had a significant impact on freight and passenger services to remote parts of provinces.
The Transport Department highlighted that 12 shipping companies operating in the country had ended operations.
The only two companies left were Bismark and Consort Shipping.
NMSA said since the demise of adequate shipping services, over 15,000 small sea crafts were used for transportation by over five million people in the 15 provinces.