NEW LADY NAOMI III TO BE DELIVERED IN 2022
By: Yumi Epati Tala’ave
A bigger and faster Lady Naomi 111 for domestic and inter-island travel is tentatively scheduled to be delivered and commissioned in two years’ time, Minister of Shipping Papaliitele Unasa Niko Lee Hang confirms.
The Minister’s clarification reaffirms the announcement by Japan’s Ambassador to Samoa, Genichi Terasawa in his commencement remarks, to officially commission the Vaisigano Bridge last Friday, also funded by a grant of $44 million from Tokyo.
“In October last year, Honorable Prime Minister Tuilaepa and Prime Minister ABE agreed to the new grant project to construct a new ship to connect between Samoa and overseas.
The new ship is expected to go into service two years from now.” assured the Ambassador in his address.
Papaliitele added that initially the new Lady Naomi III was slated to be operational in time for the 2021 General Elections in April however the COVD19 pandemic has led to delays.
Nonetheless, the Minister says that primarily, the new Lady’s primary routes will include domestic services between Mulifanua and Salelologa complemented by the inter-island route between the two Samoas.
“The vessel also has the capacity for charter sailings to our neighbouring Pacific Islands such as Tonga and Cook Islands if needed,” he added.
In negotiating for the new vehicular, passenger and cargo Lady Naomi III, Papaliitele noted that it was agreed by both the Governments of Japan and Samoa that after the provision of the Lady Samoa III several years ago, Tokyo would cease her passenger and cargo vessels for Samoa grant funding.
“However, our request to the Government of Japan for re-consideration due to the genuine need to improve transport shipping services was accepted,” explained the Minister. And the end result, the Lady Naomi III which is fully funded by the Government of Japan will be delivered in two years’ time.
