It’s getting pretty easy to organise a trip to the Northern Division or to Levuka.
You could hop on to a bus from the Capital City, cruise down to Natovi, hop on to a ferry, travel the waters across to Nabouwalu and travel up to Labasa or to Savusavu.
For a trip to Levuka, it isn’t surprising that people can actually travel from the Old Capital to Suva, do their shopping, and travel back home to Levuka.
Or if you wanted to, you could even travel on a ferry across to Savusavu and then on to Taveuni.
And it’s as simple as booking a ticket in Suva or in the North.
But try that when you want to travel to other islands in Lomaiviti and you should expect to hit a brickwall.
Try booking a ticket to an island such as Gau for instance and you just might hit two brickwalls.
And how about trying for a trip to Nairai or Batiki?
You’d probably have to forget hitting the brickwall because you just might not get to start anyway.
And if there’s a trip to Gau going, you most probably shouldn’t expect a confirmed date to return to the Capital.
Little wonder then that operators of fibreglass boats are making some money.
Separated by waters of the Pacific Ocean, inter-island shipping services are a key part of the lives of many people who travel from our many islands scattered in the Lau Group, Lomaiviti and the Yasawas.
Understandably the frequency or lack of it in terms of shipping services is a daunting feature of the industry.
Many will continue to brave the elements in the face of irregular shipping services.
This has, however, had its associated dangers, with a number of boats capsizing in rough seas and people going missing.
As much as they will want to adhere to safety requirements, the bottom line is, time becomes a very important factor for many people.
The onus though is on our shipping industry to address shortfalls and to put in place a timetable that is regular.
As much as we will want to encourage industry stakeholders to improve their fleets, there will obviously be a call for legislation to tighten up safety issues generally, and for the State to put together more incentives and perhaps revisit the franchise scheme.
Shipping companies that take the initiative to improve their fleet deserve acknowledgement.
The bottom line though is whether this business is lucrative enough for them to stay and continue to upgrade their fleets?
It isn’t difficult though to see that because of the geographical make-up of our islands and distances that have to be travelled, there is a great need for a shipping service that meets the needs of all travellers.