Proactive steps were taken to contact the captain - Fiji Ports

The Fiji Ports Corporation Limited has today confirmed that they took proactive steps to contact the captain of the MV Suilven after they noticed that the vessel was encountering problems at about 3.30pm yesterday.

Fiji Ports Chief Operations Officer, Eranda Kotelawala confirms that when they contacted the vessel at the time, the crew said that they did not need any assistance and could manage the situation.

Kotelawala says Fiji Ports were then on stand by and the MV Suilven made a distress call at 3.50pm yesterday when it continued to face problems.

There is no confirmation at this stage on when the vessel started encountering problems.

Kotelawala says they did everything they could after getting the distress call.

He says things could have been better if the vessel had contacted Fiji Ports Corporation as soon as they started encountering problems.

A full investigation will now be carried out by the Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji after the sinking of the MV Suilven at the Suva Harbour yesterday afternoon.

MSAF will find out exact details on when the Suilven started encountering problems, whether distress calls were made from the vessel, when the calls were made, the ship’s cargo load, the reaction time and the monitoring of vessels going in and out of the crucial Suva Harbour passage.

Fijivillage has received confirmation that details will be revealed after the investigation.

Permanent Secretary for Infrastructure and Transport Commander Francis Kean says they will now await the MSAF report.

Commander Kean says the cargo load and other details will definitely be assessed.

He says the entrance to Suva Harbour is safe and clear for transiting ships and further assessments will be made on the sunken vessel soon.

The MSAF oil spill equipment is on standby at Government Shipping Services ready for deployment.

The government vessel, Rogovoka is on standby to deploy to assist in the removal of any floating cargo from the sunken ship.

When asked on the monitoring of vessels coming in and going out of the passage, Commander Kean says there are clear procedures that should be followed. He also says we always need to ensure that the passage is not blocked.

The 31 crew members on board were rescued from the sinking vessel yesterday.

According to eyewitnesses the vessel started listing as it was coming into Suva.

It was there for some time and tried going out again.

Fijivillage is getting reports that the MV Suilven started experiencing problems after it encountered strong winds near Naselai.

It is understood the cargo shifted to one side of the vessel which caused problems for the vessel from that stage as it headed towards Suva.

The owner of the vessel, Venu Shipping has not made any comments.

It would have been a major disaster if the vessel would have blocked the passage as it would have affected the entry of cargo and cruise vessels.