Fiji’s economic prosperity, its environmental health, and way of life are inextricably tied to the sea.
The opening of the new Vuvale Maritime Essential Services Centre in Lami on Friday (October 3) will help Fiji protect and safeguard its ocean from maritime threats.
The new centre, worth $F120 million will serve as a hub for regional coordination, supporting combine and joint operations and information-sharing with Pacific neighbours and international partners.
There to open the new centre was the Prime Minister, Sitiveni Rabuka and Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, Richard Marles.
In his address, PM Rabuka said the opening of centre was a milestone not just for Fiji’s maritime capability but for Fiji’s national resilience and regional cooperation.
“This centre is more than a building. It is a symbol of our enduring commitment to protect our maritime domain, safeguard our sovereignty, and protect, progress and promote the wellbeing of our people and region,” he said.
The centre embodies the true spirit of the vuvale partnership.
“Partnership with our vuvale, the Government of Australia in the design and construction of this facility. Partnership between our government institutions to coordinate our maritime efforts and stand together as Fijians in the face of shared challenges.
“And partnership with our Pacific neighbours, to develop this facility not only for Fiji but for our wider region to protect our shared Blue Pacific.
“Fiji is a proud maritime nation. Our Economic Exclusive Zone is over 1.3 million square kilometres. And we have responsibility for a Search and Rescue Zone that spreads across 6.5 square kilometres across the territories of Tuvalu, Wallis and Futuna, Tokelau and Kiribati.
“Our economic prosperity, our environmental health, and our very way of life are inextricably tied to the sea, that is why, under Fiji’s National Security Strategy, maritime security has been identified as a key strategic priority.
“We recognise that the threats we face — from illegal fishing, transnational organised crime, including narcotics trafficking, to climate-induced disasters — demand a strategic approach and coordinated response.”
The Vuvale Maritime Essential Services Centre provides that capability.
It will house a number of critical agencies working together under one roof — including the Fiji Navy, the Fiji Hydrographic Office, and Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Centre among others.
“This whole-of-government approach is not just efficient; it is essential. No single agency or ministry or nation can address today’s maritime security challenges alone. But together, we can act faster, share information more effectively, and respond more decisively,” Mr Rabuka added.
Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, Richard Marles was excited to be part of the opening ceremony.
“This is an incredible achievement,” Mr Marles said.
“It represents a significant investment from the Australian Government, $A83 million, more than 1400 contracts were signed with Fijian partners for the delivery of this facility, 1275 jobs were created in the building of this facility.
“It was, over the last two years, a massive endeavour to bring us to this day.”
He said as significant as the facts and figures were, what was much more profound was the capability that this now represented for Fiji and for the Pacific region.
“One of the real challenges that every nation faces is coordination, how we break down stovepipes and have various agencies within our governments working together so that they end up being more than the sum of their parts,” ,Mr Marles said.
“Well, the Vuvale Maritime Essential Services is the living and breathing expression of this. Under one roof, we have the Fiji Navy, the Fiji Police, Fiji Customs, Fiji Fisheries, the Search and Rescue Coordination Centre, the Hydrographic Office and more.”
He said bringing those agencies together into one place represented power.
“For the first time, intelligence which might be received by the Fisheries Agency about an illegal vessel will result in real-time tasking of the Fiji Navy – a distress call that is received by the Search and Rescue Coordination Centre in a matter of minutes can see actions from the Fiji Police,” he said.
“A tip-off from Fiji Customs about a transnational shipment of illegal drugs will have the Navy standing right there beside them.”
He said the ability to coordinate in that way was profound and it represented an ability to have much greater agency and control over Fiji’s maritime domain.
The investment is one of the largest infrastructure investments that Australia has ever made anywhere in the world.
