It’s pretty easy to organise a trip to the Northern Division or to Levuka these days, by sea that is.
You could hop into a bus from the Capital City, cruise down to Natovi, hop on to a ferry, travel the waters across to Nabouwalu and travel to Labasa or to Savusavu.
For a trip to Levuka, 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 travel on a ferry across to Savusavu and then on to Taveuni.
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 will hit a brick wall.
Try booking a ticket to an island such as Gau for instance and you just might hit two brick walls. And how about trying for a trip to Nairai or Batiki? You’d probably have to forget hitting the brick wall because you just might not get to start at all.
And if there’s a trip to Gau going, you most probably shouldn’t expect a confirmed date to return to the Capital City.
Little wonder then that operators of fibreglass boats are making some money on the side.
It’s a tough scenario, but someone has to do it. At least someone has to be brave enough to do it, and for travellers, it isn’t a scenario for the faint-hearted.
Separated by waters of the Pacific Ocean, inter-island shipping services are a key part of the lives of people who travel from our many islands scattered in the Lau Group, Lomaiviti and Yasawa.
The frequency or lack of it in terms of shipping services is a daunting feature of the industry.
Many 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 over the years 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 want to encourage industry stakeholders to improve their fleets, is there a need 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?
In the face of that sits the recent case in which the Fiji Navy came to the rescue of five people who were reported missing in Gau waters on Sunday.
They were picked up on Tuesday afternoon in Moala and escorted to Levuka for medical attention.
Because of the geographical make-up of our islands and distances that have to be travelled, one wonders whether there is a great need for a shipping service that meets the needs of all travellers. Perhaps the key is finding the perfect balance somehow.