THE region must build cleaner, sustainable marine transportation.
That was the challenge from International Maritime Organization Secretary General Arsenio Dominguez to the Fiji National University’s (FNU) Pacific Centre for Maritime Studies.
He encouraged FNU to explore the development of greener, cleaner ships that would contribute to protecting the environment.
“We should begin with an analysis of the market and an assessment of the current requirements of the shipping industry. I believe the area in which we can be of greatest assistance to you is through the provision of consultancy services.”
His comments were made during a tour of the maritime centre’s world-class, state-of-the-art facilities.
The FNU has indicated its intention to begin shipbuilding courses. This would be a revival of a strong boatbuilding programmed which was part of the Fiji Institute of Technology—the forerunner of the FNU—in the late 1980s.
At the time, Fiji produced ships for the region and itself at the Government Shipyard in Suva.
PCMS Diploma in Nautical Science student, Lanieta Suliano, told Dominguez that maritime careers were more than just professions to Pacific islanders.
“It is a way of life. It is how we honour our ancestors who were some of the world’s greatest navigators, and how we carry forward the hopes of our families and our nations,” she said.