Nauru’s President signs shipping license agreement with Matson
7 February, 2013
Nauru's President signs
shipping license agreement with Matson
His Excellency President Sprent Dabwido signed a new shipping
license agreement with U.S Company Matson this week (6 Feb).
The license agreement will initially be for 12 months. Matson's
ports include America, Hawaii, Guam, Auckland, and the Pacific
islands of Nauru, Fiji, the Solomon Islands, Micronesia, Tahiti,
Samoa, Cook Islands, Niue, Tonga, Wallis and Futuna, Vanuatu,
Tarawa and Majuro.
Matson takes over the service from Auckland based Reef Shipping
after it went into receivership late last year.
"Entering into a licensing agreement is the better option for
Nauru as we can be assured of a shipment each month and we are able
to negotiate terms with the shipping company as well as offering
our businesses options with products from new countries," President
Dabwido said.
The move to include Nauru in Matson's shipping schedule was a
matter of transition and continuation of Reef's core trade
lanes.
Matson's Senior Vice President for the Pacific, Vic Angoco said
he is looking forward to working with the Nauru Government and
serving the community.
"For us it's not just about getting paid but serving the
community and to be part of the community. Nauru is an island and
we want to expand the package to serve light sized communities such
as Nauru.
"Acquiring Reef's assets made it a little easier for us (Matson)
to move into new island markets," Mr Angoco said.
Matson's Strategic Development Manager and former All Black
Michael Jones is confident the partnership will be a strong
one.
"It's a partnership, and the most effective way to stabilise
shipping services is to enter into a licensing agreement. We will
do our best to deliver the service and serve the community," Mr
Jones said.
The first Matson shipment is expected to arrive in Nauru early
next week.