Fiji
Fiji - 2.1. Fiji Port Assessment
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Suva and Lautoka on Viti Levu are the main commercial ports for handling bulk and container freight for import and export. All customs, immigration and quarantine facilities are provided at these ports. The Suva Port provides pilotage, safe anchorage, deep berths (capable of handling vessels of over 40,000 tons), stevedoring, general cargo handling, cargo/container storage including freezer and cooler, loose cargo warehousing, fumigation, incineration and weighbridge facilities. 

Lautoka is the second-largest port of entry and is in the northwest of the main island and handles the bulk of Fiji’s sugar and timber exports. This port is the base for local cruise vessels servicing offshore holiday resorts. Other port facilities include a few privately owned terminals for the handling of petroleum, gas, bulk sugar, molasses and wood chips. There is also a fishing port that services the requirements of local fishermen. 

Deep-water anchorages at Levuka, Malau, Wairiki and Vuda Point (part of Lautoka) undertake commercial export activities only of wood chips and fish and do not operate as international import points. Savusavu, Levuka and Rotuma are smaller Ro-Ro ports. The minor ports provide only basic services for inter-island traffic and are often weather and tide constrained. There are numerous shipping companies servicing Fiji’s ports on a frequent basis from one to three times a month. Direct sea-freight connections are available to most Pacific Islands ports, New Zealand, Australia, Japan and the west coast of the United States. Fiji being the “hub of the Pacific” is also a strategic transhipment hub for cargoes traded between the Pacific Island Countries (PICs). In international shipping services, the bulk of general cargo imports and exports are carried in containers along the major shipping routes connecting PICs and the rest of the world. 

The Fiji Ports Corporation Limited (FPCL), a government-owned corporation operating semi-autonomously under the Ministry of Transport and Tourism, is responsible for the administration of the “major” ports — declared as Suva, Lautoka, Labasa/Malau, and Levuka. Other ports remain under the Ministry’s control, with Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji (MSAF) continuing to provide navigational and safety overview. 

Operations and maintenance at the ports owned by FPCL are handled by Ports Terminals Limited (PTL). PTL also carries out stevedoring at all major ports. Previously a 100% government-owned operation, PTL is now a 100% subsidiary of FPCL and is managed and operated by FPCL. 

 

 

 

 

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