A vessel once celebrated for its speed and preferred as an alternative to air transport in Tonga has been revealed to be non-operational, barely five years after its launch.
The Minister of Public Enterprises Piveni Piukala, reviewing government entities, including the shipping agency FISA, said he found out the vessel was no longer in operation.
He said it had been revealed that the catamaran had been transferred to Fokololo ‘o e Hau, where it is now being used to instruct sailing students in painting and vessel maintenance techniques.
During a recent summit in Nuku’alofa to discuss national development planning for the next 10 years, the Minister said a lot of money was being spent on the catamaran.
He attributed the failure of this project to what he called selfish leadership.
The Minister also revealed that the MV Niuvākai, purchased by FISA in 2014, was recently sold to a local buyer for just NZ$43,000(US$24, 646). This follows the vessel’s original acquisition from the Ramanlal brothers for NZ$936,500(US$536,778) that, according to a New Zealand valuation report, was three times higher than its actual market value at the time.
The high speed of the $8.3 million pa’anga (US$3.45 million) aluminum catamaran was launched by King Tupou VI in January 2018 and was highly praised by outer islanders.
The government’s funded vessel which operated by FISA was said to have the ability to travel from Nuku’alofa to Nomuka, an island 108 kilometres away from Nuku’alofa, in about two hours.
The twin-hull boat could take less than two hours before it reaches Pangai, Ha’apai which is 61 kilometres away from Nomuka.
The MV Tongiaki could take less than three hours before it would arrive in Neiafu, Vava’u from Pangai.
This means, the 33-metre catamaran which carries 200 passengers, could take less than 12 hours to travel from Nuku’alofa to Vava’u and return to Nuku’alofa the same day.
