MV ‘Otuanga’ofa

Prime Minister, Hu’akavameiliku confirmed this in a press conference.

The vessel is currently docked in Auckland for maintenance work.

Hu’akavameiliku said he is glad to have all the faults repaired, while it’s still docked there.

New Zealand Maritime is carrying out the final inspections of the ferry before it is released to return to Tonga.

“Inspectors from Tonga had also informed New Zealand Maritime of other pressing issues to address. We hope that it arrives soon, to help transport our people to the outer islands,” he said.

The ‘Otuanga’ofa arrived in Auckland in September 2022 and was expected to return to the kingdom last October.

New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries told Kaniva News the ferry was ordered back to sea for being “non-compliant with New Zealand’s biosecurity regulations.”

The Ministry said the vessel was allowed back into port to collect provisions.

However, even though the ferry was ordered to leave port to be cleaned, there was a delay because vital equipment was not working.

The office of the Friendly Islands Shipping Agency – FISA confirmed with Radio Tonga News this was due to the delay in offloading cargoes in Niuafo’ou because of the bad weather causing disruption in the vessel’s timetable.

Information from FISA says the vessel then had to wait for 24 hours, before passengers started boarding at Niuafo’ou, last Thursday.

The vessel then travelled to Vava’u and was supposed to stop over in Ha’apai – but due to the conditions of the passengers, they had no choice but to travel direct to Nuku’alofa.

Radio Tonga reports the ministry conducted a trial voyage of the ship yesterday to test its sea worthiness capabilities and safety.

A Friendly Islands Shipping Agency (FISA) spokesman said the M.V. ‘Otuanga’ofa returned to Nuku’alofa after docking for maintenance in Suva for mechanical problems which suspended the ferry’s services for about 4 months.

This is good news for the residents of the outer-islands as many people were not satisfied with the inability of the temporary vessel M.V. Maggie Cat to carry cargo.

This was confirmed to Fiji Sun by Inoke Seru, the operation manager IMEL.

He said the vessel had not arrived but the booking had already been made. As soon as the Tongan vessel arrived he said it would be docked for repairs.

He said all the repair works would be carried out the IMEL staff in Fiji.

IMEL he said had the experts to work on any vessel.