Post-pandemic economics and the rise of national populism – Wherever we look today, whether it be through a political, economic, or security lens, we can see the consequences of post-pandemic economic instability.

And politically, the rise of national populism is in evidence, as is an apparent anti-incumbent mood among voters.

So today, Paul and I will assess the global Zeitgeist and what impact post-pandemic economics is having on geopolitics and geo-economics.

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The Singapore cargo ship Dali chartered by Maersk, which collapsed the Baltimore bridge in the United States last month, was carrying 764 tonnes of hazardous materials to Sri Lanka, reports Colombo’s Daily Mirror.

The materials were mostly corrosives, flammables, miscellaneous hazardous materials, and Class-9 hazardous materials — including explosives and lithium-ion batteries — in 56 containers.

According to the Mirror, the US National Transportation Safety Board was still “analysing the ship’s manifest to determine what was onboard” in its other 4644 containers when the ship collided with Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, collapsing it, on March 26.

The e-Con e-News (ee) news agency reports that prior to Baltimore, the Dali had called at New York and Norfolk, Virginia, which has the world’s largest naval base.

Colombo was to be its next scheduled call, going around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, taking 27 days.

According to ee, Denmark’s Maersk, transporter for the US Department of War, is integral to US military logistics, carrying up to 20 percent of the world’s merchandise trade annually on a fleet of about 600 vessels, including some of the world’s largest ships.

The US Department of Homeland Security has also now deemed the waters near the crash site as “unsafe for divers”.

13 damaged containers
An “unclassified memo” from the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said a US Coast Guard team was examining 13 damaged containers, “some with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] and/or hazardous materials [HAZMAT] contents.

The team was also analysing the ship’s manifest to determine if any materials could “pose a health risk”.

CISA officials are also monitoring about 6.8 million litres of fuel inside the Dali for its “spill potential”.

Where exactly the toxic materials and fuel were destined for in Sri Lanka was not being reported.

Also, it is a rather long way for such Hazmat, let alone fuel, to be exported, “at least given all the media blather about ‘carbon footprint’, ‘green sustainability’ and so on”, said the Daily Mirror.

“We can expect only squeaky silence from the usual eco-freaks, who are heavily funded by the US and EU,” the newspaper commented.

“It also adds to the intrigue of how Sri Lanka was so easily blocked in 2022 from receiving more neighbourly fuel, which led to the present ‘regime change’ machinations.”

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Last week the new government effectively cancelled the plans of Kiwi Rail – in the form of ‘The Interislander’ – derailing its intended Picton rail and road expansion. The plans were judged to be too costly; in particular, the rate of cost escalation was deemed unacceptable.

The bigger picture is the need to balance acquisition costs and benefits against subsequent operational costs and benefits. Spending more upfront can mean much lower costs in the long run.

We can look to the past for guidance. Before the 1960s, the principal shipping route between New Zealand’s North and South Islands was between Wellington and Christchurch; more specifically between Wellington and the port town of Lyttelton.

The development of the Wellington to Picton route for a rail ferry was made possible by the completion of the Christchurch to Picton rail line in 1945. That was a borderline rail decades-long project which might never have been completed at all. The second impetus towards the improvement of the Picton route was the diminishing state of the then-existing Union Steam Ship ferry service to Picton, and its inability to service the rapidly increasing demand for road vehicle carriage to Nelson, Marlborough, and Westland. Then, by the 1970s, people wanting quick access to Christchurch were flying, and renting cars. Further, with the loss of the Wahine in 1968, the convenience of the Lyttelton ferry service waned substantially. The Wahine’s replacement – the Rangatira – was a great ship but it had a backward-looking economic profile. And it was not owned by New Zealand Rail, as Kiwi Rail was then. New Zealand Rail in 1970 had too much sunk investment in Picton. It is now, in the 2020s, that that investment has substantially depreciated.

In November 2016 the Picton service was severely compromised by the Kaikoura Earthquake. Massive fixes were required to both the rail and road routes from Picton to Christchurch. 2017 was an obvious time to look at rekindling the Lyttelton ferry service, but for some inexplicable reason there was no discussion of that option. The Interisland rail service was curtailed, and the increased car and truck traffic had to take an alpine route, over Lewis Pass. Subsequently, in 2022, road access to Nelson – and to the Lewis Pass – was knocked out by severe flooding and road subsidence. ‘Fortunately’, the rebuilt coastal route to Christchurch had been opened in time. Despite this new emergency, the word ‘Lyttleton’ was still not mentioned.

New Zealand means New Sealand. Early in 2023 there was a brief swell of interest in coastal shipping, following the wave of floods most affecting the North Island’s Tairawhiti (‘Eastland’). But again, once the one precarious road was eventually fixed, that emergency shipping service between Gisborne and Napier was immediately discontinued. It was an election year, and the political class was too obsessed with exploring the main political parties’ alleged ‘fiscal holes’ to contemplate some forward-looking climate-savvy inter-regional transport infrastructure.

Yet, for the latest episode of New Sealand’s saga of threadbare-shipping, too much attention has gone onto the proposed new ships, which really are too big for the Picton ‘scenic route’, and too little attention to the main cost, the replacement of port infrastructure.

So, here’s what I think. Divert the proposed port infrastructure from touristic Picton to the commercial deepwater port of Lyttleton. Build the two modern rail-road ferries, as planned, in South Korea. Require KiwiSaver to switch its principal rail-ferry operations to Lyttleton; allowing Picton to be serviced by smaller roll-on roll-off ferries, with rail-free Nelson the main centre to be serviced through Picton. This is the perfect opportunity to revive the Wellington-Christchurch ferry service.

We particularly note that the 2020s is the critical decade to deal with the matter of climate change, in this century of COPs. (Actually, the 2010s was that critical decade; but it’s been and gone!) Although modern ships use a fossil fuel, oil, shipping remains the most resilient and sustainable form of long-distance freight transport; and especially when the alternative is road-rail transport along a rugged seismically active coast.

Other Shipping News

The COP28 narrative, this year, boiled down to whether there should be a ‘phase-down’ of (ie ‘transition away from’) fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas) or a ‘phase-out’ of such fuels. For the distinction to be meaningful, a phase-out means the eventual complete disuse of these fuels. Yet I heard nothing in the reporting of COP28 about what a complete disuse of fossil fuels would mean for the shipping industry. I found this rhetorical gap especially bemusing, in the light of the dependence of the small island nations on sea-freight; indeed these were some of the nation states most vociferous at COP28 in favour of ‘phase-out’.

Traditionally, sea travel – indeed oceanic sea travel – was sustainable, in the sense that it was driven by wind power. Some sailing ships, windjammers carrying freight, were still plying the Southern Ocean as recently as the mid-twentieth century. The Pamir’s final voyage on the great circle route, via Cape Horn, sailing under the New Zealand red ensign, was in 1949.

While it seems unlikely that wind-only shipping will again play a role in world shipping this century, I see no reason why hybrid shipping cannot be developed for certain routes, with the ‘great circle route’ via the Capes of Good Hope and Horn being an obvious such route. High-tech wind power can be allowed to make a contribution to a more sustainable goods’ carriage model. Yet, if such practical solutions are being discussed in COP circles, such chatter is not being picked up by the mainstream media.

What other alternatives fossil fuels can be used by ships? The only one that comes to my mind is nuclear power. In the absence of narratives around ships utilising wind power, a phasing out of fossil fuels in shipping can only mean a phasing in of nuclear power; a means of propulsion principally confined at present to military shipping. I am not convinced that Aotearoans would be partial to such a phase out of fossil fuels. (And we note that nuclear power can hardly be applicable to air transport, another industry for which a phase out of fossil fuels will be difficult.)

The Militarisation of the Indian Ocean

While militarised for some time now, the 2021 ‘Indo-Pacific’ ‘rules-based’ rhetoric of Biden and Blinken and Ardern, was a hint that the Indian Ocean was an escalating military region. AUKUS took this a step further in 2022. Now, in 2023, we see that there will be a large United States’ nuclear submarine base (ABC News, 18 Dec 2023) just south of Fremantle, in Western Australia.

And now, with actual conflict in the Red Sea, related to Israel’s present war, we are heading for an effective closure of the Suez Canal; previously closed between 1967 and 1975 due to the second and third wars between Israel and Egypt. (The first Israel-Egypt War in modern times was in 1956, when the first massacre of Khan Younis took place.) Neither military expansion nor the closure of major shipping routes are conducive to the reduction of the greenhouse gas emissions which are substantially causing climate change. Indeed ‘defence’ is probably both the least-green and least-productive sector of the global economy. Oil-powered oil-tankers are already having to get from the Persian Gulf to the North Atlantic Ocean via South Africa. (I wonder if we will ever see the ultimate shipping irony: nuclear-powered oil tankers!?)

Climate Change feedback ‘Arms Race’

It’s not only the Suez Canal which is compromised at present. The Panama rainforest is experiencing a drought, meaning that the undercapacity (at the best of times) Panama Canal is unable to access anything like the amounts of water that it needs to operate its locks. It means evermore traffic having to go around Cape Horn, at the tip of South America; though these canal troubles may help to precipitate energy saving on the wind-friendly great-circle route.

The woes of the Panama Canal are reflected more generally in that climate change is creating more demand for energy intensive climate control; air-conditioning for the heat and heating for the cold, climate extremes that are creating extra demands right now for coal to burn to generate electricity. This ‘arms race’ phenomenon is known as a positive feedback loop; the kind of positive feedback that is very adverse for the sustenance of Planet Earth in its present human-friendly. Indeed increased demand means the transition away from fossil fuels may end up being that fossil fuel use continues to stay much the same, despite increases in renewable and nuclear energisation.

Geoplanetary feedback loops can be quirky though. Just as the Panama Canal route faces contraction of service – as does the Picton route – two new opportunities are opening up as a result of global warming. The Northwest Passage, north of Canada, may soon be available to take the pressure off the Panama Canal (at least for a few months each year). And, especially for trade between China and Russia – an important factor in global emissions – the Arctic Northeast Passage may become similarly viable.

A nuclear Arctic, anyone? Maybe Canada or Russia will ban non-nuclear ships, for the sake of Planet E.

*******

Keith Rankin (keith at rankin dot nz), trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand.

While Japan’s discharge of nuclear waste waters into the Pacific from its Fukushima nuclear plant has been drawing flak across the Pacific, a high-powered delegation of Chinese ocean and marine scientists and Asia-Pacific scholars from Shandong Province visited Fiji to promote South-South cooperation to mitigate climate change — the Pacific island nations’ biggest security threat.

Facilitated by the Chinese Embassy in Suva, Shandong Province and Fiji signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to exchange scholars and experts from the provincial institution to assist the Pacific Island nation in the agriculture sector.

At the signing event, Agriculture Minister Vatimi Rayalu said Fiji and China had a successful history of cooperating in agriculture.

He told the Fiji Broadcasting Corporation that this initiative was critical to agricultural production to promote heightened collaboration among key stakeholders and help Fiji connect to the vast Chinese market.

Shandong Province has a 3000 km coastline with a population of 100 million. It is China’s third largest provincial economy, with a GDP of CNY 8.3 trillion (US$1.3 trillion) in 2021—equivalent to Mexico’s GDP.

The province has also played a major role in Chinese civilisation and is a cultural center for Confucianism, Taoism and Chinese Buddhism.

On August 30, during a day-long conference at the University of the South Pacific under the theme of sustainable development of small island states, scholars from Shandong Province and the Pacific exchanged ideas on cooperation in the sphere of the ocean and marine sciences, and education, development and cultural areas.

Chinese assistance welcomed
In a keynote address to the conference, Fiji’s Education Minister Aseri Radrodro welcomed China’s assistance to foster a scholars exchange programme and share best practices for improved teaching and learning processes.

He said: “We are restrategising our diplomatic relations via education platforms disturbed by the pandemic.”

Emphasising that respect is an essential ingredient of Pacific cultures, he welcomed Chinese interest in Pacific cultures.

Also, he invited China to assist Fiji and the region in areas such as marine sciences, counselling, medical services, IT, human resource management, and education policies and management.

“Overall, sustainable development for Small Island States requires a realistic approach that integrates social, economic, and environmental considerations and collaborations among governments, civil society, international organisations, and the private sector that is essential for achieving sustainable development goals,” he told delegates.

Radrodro invited more Chinese scholars to visit the Pacific to increase cultural understanding between the regions and suggested developing a school exchange programme between Fiji and China for young people to understand each other.

The Chinese ambassador to Fiji, Zhou Jian, pointed out that China and the Pacific Island Countries (PICs), were connected by the Pacific Ocean and in a spirit of South-South cooperation, China already had more than 20 development cooperation projects in the region (he listed them) and 10 sister city arrangements across the region.

Building a human community
Pointing out that his province’s institutions have some of the prominent scholars in the world on climatic change action and marine technology, the Vice-Chairman of Shandong Provincial Committee, Wang Shujian, said he hoped that these institutions would help to build a human community with a shared future in the Pacific.

Many Chinese speakers reflected in their presentations that their cooperative ventures would be in line with the Chinese government’s current international collaboration push known as the “Global Development Initiative”.

This initiative has eight priority areas: poverty alleviation, food security, pandemic response and vaccines, financing for development, climate change and green development, industrialisation, digital economy, and connectivity in the digital era.

Jope Koroisavou of the Ministry of iTaukei (indigenous) affairs explained that the “Blue Pacific” leaders in the region talk about is a way of life that “bridges our past with our future,” and it was important to re-establish the balance between taking and giving to nature.

He listed three takeaways in this respect: cultural resilience and preservation, eco-system stewardship and conservation, and community component and inclusive decision-making.

Professor Yang Jingpeng from the Centre for South Pacific Studies at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications acknowledged that they needed to learn from indigenous knowledge, where indigenous people were closely connected to the environment.

Bio-diversity, climate action, South-South cooperation
“They play an important role in protecting biodiversity,” he noted. “Their knowledge of nature will be greatly beneficial to address climatic change”.

He expressed the wish that under South-South cooperation, their centre would be able to work with this knowledge and scientific methodologies to mitigate climatic change.

Mesake Koroi of the FBC noted that Pacific Islanders needed to get over the idea that because indigenous villagers practice subsistence farming, they were poor when, in fact, they were rich in traditional knowledge, which was important to address the development and environmental challenges of today.

“Using this traditional knowledge, people don’t go out fishing when the winds are blowing in the wrong direction or the moon is not in the correct place”, he noted.

“In my village, 10,000 trees will be planted this year to confront climatic change.”

On an angry note, he referred to Japan’s dumping of nuclear-contaminated water to the Pacific Ocean using a purely “scientific” argument, which he described as “inexcusable vulgar, crude and irresponsible”.

He asked if science said was so safe, why did they not use it for irrigation in Japan?

Nuclear tests suffering
Koroi lamented that historically, major powers had used the Pacific for nuclear testing without respect for the islanders’ welfare — who had to suffer from nuclear fallouts.

“The British, French, and Americans are all guilty of these atrocities, and now the Japanese”, noted Koroi.

Since China was coming to the Pacific without this baggage, he hoped this would transform into a desire to work with the people of the Pacific for their welfare.

Professor He Baogang, of Deaking University in Australia, noted that though the Chinese mindset acknowledged that dealing with climate change was a human right (health right) issue, it still needed to be central to their approach to the problem.

“This should be laid down as important, ” he argued, and suggested that this could be demonstrated by working on areas such as putting green shipping corridors into action.

“China and Pacific Island countries need to look at an agreement to decarbonise the shipping industry,” he argued. “This conference needs to address how to proceed (in that direction)”.

Pointing out that there was a long history — going back to more than 8000 years — of Chinese ancestry among some Pacific people, pointing out that some Māori traditional tattoos were similar to the Chinese tattoos, Professor Chen Xiaochen, executive deputy director, Centre for Asia-Pacific Studies, East China Normal University, noted “now we are looking for common ground for Pacific development needs”.

Knowing each other better
In an informal conversation with IDN, one of the professors from China said that the time had come for the people of China and the Pacific to come to know each other better.

“Chinese students hardly know about Pacific cultures and the people,” he told IDN, adding, “I suppose the Pacific people don’t know much of our cultures as well.”

He believes closer collaboration with universities in Shandong Provincial would be ideal “because it is a centre of Chinese civilisation”.

“Now the Pacific is looking north,” noted Professor Xiaochen, adding, “my flight from Hong Kong was full of Chinese tourists coming South to Fiji”.

Kalinga Seneviratne is a visiting consultant with the University of the South Pacific journalism programme. IDN-InDepthNews is the flagship news service of the nonprofit Inter Press Syndicate. Republished in collaboration with Asia Pacific Report.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The Fiji Revenue and Customs Service has issued two infringement notices to the captain of the seized Russian super yacht Amadea which is berthed in Lautoka port.

These are notices under Section 14 of the Customs Act of 1986 for failure to comply with procedure on arrival and Section 17 which deals with failure to comply with people disembarking.

Section 14 deals with infringements under “procedure on arrival” where the master of every aircraft or ship arriving in the Fiji Islands shall bring the ship or aircraft to an airport or port or mooring without touching at any other place.

A fine not exceeding F$20,000 (NZ$14,000) or imprisonment for four years applies for the infringement.

Section 17 deals with “provisions as to persons disembarking from or going onboard an aircraft, ship” and states a person who contravenes or fails to comply with any direction given by the Customs comptroller under the provisions of this section is guilty of an offence and is liable to a fine not exceeding F$10,000 (NZ$7000).

“These charges are as per the Customs Act 1986,” said Police Commissioner Brigadier-General Sitiveni Qiliho.

“Normally the Act, (FRCS) Fiji Revenue and Customs Service acts on a fine matrix. If he pays the fines, then good otherwise, we will need to go to the court.”

US officials join investigation
Repeka Nasiko reports that American government officials are working with the Fiji Police Force in investigations over the Amadea.

Police Commissioner Brigadier-General Sitiveni Qiliho said the US investigators had already boarded the super yacht.

Commissioner Qiliho said investigations were progressing well.

“We are working very closely with the US government in regard to the current seizure of the yacht at the moment while we go through that investigation process,” he said.

He said the next course of action would not take place overnight and “probably take the next couple of days”.

The crew, he said, were on board and the person of interest was the captain of the vessel.

“The crew are of other nationalities.

“Their embassies and high commissions have been in touch with the investigation team and we are working through the US government with those embassies regarding the crew members who continue to be on board the vessel.”

He added that all relevant defence and border agencies were involved in the investigations.

“We have the RFMF through the Fiji Navy, Customs, Fiji Police and our international counterparts that monitor the movement of vessels.”

Amadea is reportedly owned by Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov, who is currently sanctioned by foreign governments, including the US, over the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Anish Chand is the Fiji Times West Bureau chief reporter; Repeka Nasiko is a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

“We don’t do Russians.” This was the response from Fiji’s Health Minister Dr Ifereimi Waqainabete when asked about the arrival on Tuesday of Russian super yacht Amadea.

“We’ll need clarification on that then we can comment on that,” he said. “We don’t do Russians.”

While the Prime Minister’s office did not respond to queries on the subject, the United States Embassy in Suva and the Delegation of the European Union in the Pacific said they had been in contact with the Fiji government over the presence in Fiji of the super yacht.

The Amadea, which arrived on Tuesday and was still in port yesterday, is owned by Russian billionaire Suleiman Kerimov.

Kerimov is on the United States, British and European Union sanctions list that came out after Russia’s invasion on Ukraine. Yachts owned by other sanctioned individuals have been seized all over the world.

“Seizing assets of Russian oligarchs supporting the invasion of Ukraine is a part of the sanction regime applied by the European Union,” said Sujiro Seam, Ambassador of the Delegation of the European Union.

“Several Russian oligarchs’ yachts have already been impounded in the European Union. The European Union is cooperating with partners around the world on the matter, including in the Pacific.

Consulting with Fiji
“The European Union is aware of reports of the presence of Amadea in Lautoka and, together with like-minded partners, is consulting with the government of Fiji.”

The US Embassy in Fiji also issued a similar statement, saying they are “cooperating with Fijian authorities on the matter”.

“The United States is committed to finding and seizing the assets of the oligarchs who have supported the Russian Federation’s brutal, unprovoked war of choice against Ukraine,” Stephanie Fitzmaurice, the regional public affairs officer said.

We are working closely with governments and private sector partners in Europe, and the entire world, including Fiji, on this issue.”

According to Fijian entry requirements, yachts must seek approval from the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Trade and Tourism and the Immigration Department before departing their last port.

Anish Chand is the Fiji Times West Bureau chief reporter. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

New Zealand has two new cases of covid-19 in managed isolation and quarantine and two historical cases today, says the Ministry of Health says — but no new cases in the community.

In a statement, the ministry said 10 previously reported cases had now recovered.

This morning, 11 of the 21 crew on board the Rio De La Plata container ship off Tauranga were revealed to have tested positive for covid-19. One test result is currently indeterminate.

Officials had said they expected to know after further testing how many cases were historical and how many were active.

In today’s statement the ministry said testing at the Port of Tauranga was under way for workers who had contact with the container ship.

“The crew have been informed of the positive covid-19 test results and, as of Monday morning, crew members on board are reported to be well,” it said.

“Officials have worked with employers to identify 94 port workers who had contact with the ship, unloading cargo in shifts over the four-day period it was berthed at Port of Tauranga from 6pm on Wednesday, 4 August, to 2pm on Saturday, 7 August.

All contacted, told to isolate
“All have been contacted, told to isolate awaiting a negative covid-19 test result, and are being tested for covid-19 today. So far, 91 workers have been tested, as of 11.30am. The first results are expected later today.”

The ministry said some workers would require a second test, based on their contact with the ship, and would also be required to remain in isolation until the result of those second tests were known.

“The ministry understands from local public health staff that all infection prevention controls, and PPE protocol, were followed by port workers who had contact with the ship during their duties.”

Meanwhile, the Mattina remained in quarantine at a secure berth in Bluff, the ministry said.

As of Monday morning, 13 of the original 21 mariners remain on board the vessel.

The ministry said that on Saturday, five mariners were released after 14 days in managed isolation. These mariners have consistently returned negative covid-19 test results.

One mariner, who was transferred off the boat at a later date, remained in a managed isolation facility in Christchurch, it said.

Two further mariners discharged
“Two further mariners, who both required hospital care, have been discharged, and are in Southern DHB-arranged accommodation where their health can continue to be monitored and treated. The ministry understands from Southern DHB that the mariners are recovering well.”

On returnees from Australia, the ministry said it was continuing to remind anyone who returned from Queensland on return flights last week to keep checking locations with the Queensland Health website and monitor for any symptoms.

“If people have been at a location of interest at the relevant time, they should immediately isolate at home or appropriate accommodation and call Healthline on 0800 358 5453 for advice on testing. New locations of interest have also been added for Victoria and Western Australia.”

The ministry said contact tracing staff had also identified 2995 people who returned on managed flights from Victoria between July 25 and 30 and had been required under a section 70 notice to isolate until a negative day 3 test.

Of those 2848 had so far returned a negative test; six have returned overseas and don’t need to be followed up; and 91 have been granted a clinical exemption, it said.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The agent for a ship carrying two covid-19-infected fishermen says New Zealand officials jumped the gun in announcing all its crew would be taken into managed isolation.

The mariners were in a group of nine sailors who arrived in Auckland on Monday without having to quarantine and were immediately driven to New Plymouth to board their deep sea fishing vessel.

Yesterday, Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said the Viking Bay was returning to New Plymouth where all 15 crew would be taken into managed isolation.

However, last night that was rejected by the port, which said it would put staff at risk.

As of last night, the Ministry of Health said it was now unclear where the ship would dock. The ministry declined to be interviewed today on RNZ Morning Report.

The vessel’s agent when it was at Taranaki, Bill Preston, told Morning Report the ship appeared to be in international waters.

Preston said there had been a lack of communication.

‘Jumping the gun’
“Announcements have been made without collaboration with the port or anybody. So I think everybody is jumping the gun a bit.”

He said the first he had heard of the situation was when the port’s chief executive called him to confirm the news, after Dr Bloomfield’s announcement in the weekly vaccine update yesterday.

“I said [to the port’s chief executive], ‘no, there’s been no decision around what the vessel is going to do at this stage’.”

Dr Bloomfield’s announcement was also the first time that the port had heard of the news too, Preston said.

Since then, he said he had seen communication with the ministry overnight, about making a plan of what the ship would do.

Maritime Union national secretary Craig Harrison said the port should reverse that decision on humanitarian grounds.

“Taranaki could let the vessel pull on site and tie up and not let anyone off but get them close to medical health in case something happens.”

Port’s ban ‘harsh’
Harrison said the port’s decision was “harsh”.

“We really feel for the crew now … this crew has got nowhere to go and you can guarantee that any foreign port that’s close to us now won’t let them in their waters… they won’t want to touch them,” he said.

“Unfortunately, I think New Zealand will have to do something about it.”

He said preventing the virus spreading to other crew on the cramped vessel would be difficult, with closed ventilation on the ship and only one galley.

“I feel really sorry for the crew that are out there, because you can imagine that what’s going through their minds is sooner or later are they going to get covid-19. It’s a terrible situation to be in and I think time is of the essence.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Vanuatu’s capital island of Efate has gone into covid-19 lockdown for three days after a body was found on a beach near Port Vila.

The body, which tested positive for covid, was that of a Filipino crewman from the British-flagged liquified petroleum gas carrier Inge Kosan, a medium range tanker that supplies Pacific ports.

Inge Kosan was due today in Honiara, Solomon Islands, but has been detained in Port Vila.

Usually Inge Kosan sails to Vanuatu from ports on Australia’s east coast.

The body, which has yet to be named, was found on April 11 at Pango village beach, about 11 km from where the ship is now moored.

The Vanuatu National Disaster Management Office said that after the body was found it had been taken to the Vanuatu Central Hospital morgue where a covid test was conducted. It tested positive.

So all outbound travel from Efate island stopped for 3 days to allow contact tracing to be carried out

— Ralph Regenvanu (@RRegenvanu) April 18, 2021

Police officers who handled the body have been tested and isolated. Contact tracing is underway.

Authorities said chances of community transmission were small.

Vanuatu’s opposition leader Ralph Regenvanu tweeted on the news: “So while imposing admirably strict quarantine protocols on all ports of entry into the country, we did not foresee that a dead body washed ashore and put in the only mortuary in the country where people gather to mourn every day could be carrying the COVID-19 virus.”

Contact tracing
RNZ Pacific reports that as contact tracing began today, Director-General of Health, Russell Tamata, confirmed that 16 people had been put in quarantine at Ramada Hotel.

Most of them were police officers who attended the scene when the body was discovered.

Prime Minister Bob Loughman said business would operate as usual but he appealed to the people to abide by covid-19 safety protocols such as social distancing.

The dead body of the Filipino was still at the mortuary at Vila Central.

Vanuatu has reported only three previous cases of covid-19, all at the border.

Republished from The Pacific Newsroom with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The Director-General of Health says a ship now bound for Brisbane is believed to be the most likely source of transmission in the latest covid-19 case in New Zealand.

A marine electronics engineer tested positive for covid-19, the Ministry of Health confirmed yesterday.

The man had been working on several ships in the lead up to his positive test result, including one at the Port of Taranaki on Wednesday, October 14. He became symptomatic on Friday, October 16, and sought a test.

The man had been getting regular testing, he tested negative on 2 October.

The Ministry of Health (MoH) said the risk of community transmission is low because the man had limited contact with members of the public. His household contacts are self-isolating and other close contacts are being investigated, the MoH said.

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield told RNZ Morning Report it was unlikely the ship he worked on in Taranaki, now anchored at sea awaiting clearance to dock in Napier, is the source of the transmission.

“There’s one (ship) in particular that he worked on around the 12th and 13th of October that is considered the most likely one that he might have been infected on. That vessel’s now departed New Zealand, so there’ll be some work with authorities, actually it’s on its way to Brisbane, so there’s work with authorities there to be done, they’ve already been notified that it’s on the way.”

Dr Bloomfield was unaware of how long the ship (bound for Brisbane) had been at sea, but crew onboard are not allowed to come on shore unless certain protocols have been met beforehand.

“Even if a ship has been at sea for 14 days, because of the nature of that closed environment … the close quarters within which the crew and or passengers are living, it means that the virus can sort of bounce around for much longer than 14 days and you may have … the whole crew with negative tests [but] someone could still be incubating the virus.”

Dr Bloomfield said the man had been working on the ship in New Plymouth for six hours.

The man also stayed at a motel and hotel during his stay in New Plymouth. The Devon Hotel, where he stayed, had been thoroughly cleaned, its owner said.

Dr Bloomfield added investigations into the where the case came from are ongoing.

“The other thing we are hoping to get through today is the whole genome sequencing on the case’s Covid-19 test because it will give us a hint about where the origin of his infection might be.”

Dr Bloomfield said the MoH will consider whether the time between testing of port workers needs to be shortened because of this latest case.

More cases like this will ‘keep popping up’ – Professor Baker
University of Otago epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker told RNZ First Up to expect similar cases to this one in the future.

“The pandemic is just intensifying globally, New Zealand has many connections with the outside world via airports, sea ports and arriving passengers and all of those situations that can allow the virus to get back into New Zealand.

“If we look now at the pattern of the last couple of months, we’ve had four other examples of the virus coming across the border, assuming the large Auckland outbreak was also introduced in this way, so this is really the fifth example of the last two to three months. We are seeing a pattern, it’s not probably going to be a very predictable pattern, but I guess the good news is that the last four of these breaches have all been very small and picked up quickly.”

Michael Baker said by all accounts, the man did everything right and should be commended for his pragmatism.

This article is republished by the Pacific Media Centre under a partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Papua New Guinea police have intercepted and confiscated almost K200,000 (about NZ$90,000) in K2 and K5 notes hidden in a container on a ship which arrived at the Lae wharf in a suspected money laundering case.

The cash, packed into three boxes inside the container full of bottles of water, was sent as a consignment to a company in Wewak, East Sepik,the last major town before Indonesia’s Papuan border.

Lae Metropolitan Superintendent Chief Inspector Chris Kunyanban said local police were tipped off by their counterparts in Port Moresby where the ship had sailed from.

READ MORE: Minister warns foreigners over fake passports, visas

There were 37,503 K2 notes totalling K75,006, and 24,601 K5 notes totalling K123,005.

Kunyanban said after receiving the tip-off from Port Moresby, police secured a search warrant from the district court in Lae and alerted the shipping company.

National crime investigation unit officers in Lae identified the container when the ship arrived on Friday.

“About 90 percent of the container contained water products consigned to a company in Wewak,” Kunyanban said.

Tightly packed with cash
The officers then found the three boxes tightly packed with cash which were placed at the back of the container.

He suspected that it was the work of syndicates involving locals and foreigners.

“Currently, Papua New Guinea is facing a mounting problem with different syndicates brewing which involve locals and foreigners,” he said.

He said money laundering was becoming a problem.

The cash will be kept at the Bank of Papua New Guinea in Lae.

“Police will work with the Bank of PNG to establish which law has been breached and further investigations will be carried out,” he said.

He warned businesses to be mindful of the way they run their operations.

“Especially when shifting huge amount of money from one place to another, be mindful that
shifting large amount of cash in such a manner is not advisable,” he said.

Jimmy Kalebe is a National newspaper reporter in Papua New Guinea.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

This area should become like Sydney’s Circular Quay. The question is: where is Auckland’s equivalent to Sydney’s Botany Bay? This question has become pressing, with Prime Minister Ardern declaring that the port must shift.

https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1911/S00048/auckland-port-move-cabinet-ministers-deliberate-on-decision.htm

https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1912/S00104/cabinet-should-agree-tomorrow-to-move-port.htm

There is another option that should be added to the present list of options. The option is Māngere Inlet, the portion of Manukau harbour between Māngere Bridge, Southdown and Ōtāhuhu; Port Southdown.

While the capital costs for this option would be higher than other options, most likely, the operational benefits would be higher, and the ongoing operational costs would be lower. The essential component of this option would be the construction of a ship canal across the Ōtāhuhu portage.

History:

A ship canal in Auckland is not a novel idea. The first formal proposals for such a canal date to around 1850. The debates peaked in the 1900s’ decade. Legislation preserving land‑rights for such a purpose was eventually repealed, in 2010. It was in the 1890s that the Manchester Ship Canal and the Keil Canal were built. The first Welland Canal in Canada – which allows ships to bypass Niagara falls – opened in 1829. The present Welland Canal was completed in 1932, and carries trans‑Atlantic as well as domestic shipping. In April this year, I enjoyed a stay in the old Pilot Lodging which overlooks this ship canal at Port Colborne.

In September 2019, Lisa Truttman published The Canal Promoter, available from:

https://www.wheelers.co.nz/books/1010702-canal-promoter-the/?publisher=NZ+%2F+SP+Author+Self+Published

Ms Truttman outlines the various canal proposals, in the context of an account of the life of one of the most prominent canal promoters, David Bruce Russell. The booklet is an important addition to the growing body of material exploring Auckland’s history. For my purposes here, however, I will just cite Truttman’s final paragraph:

Today [2019], there still exists a Local Purposes Reserve (Canal) along the old line delineated in 1850 from the Ōtāhuhu Cemetery on one side and the Portage Canal Foreshore Reserve on the other at the Tāmaki River side, bisected by Great South Road, and ending at Saleyards Road. Much of it is used by adjoining buildings encroaching onto it, carparks, storage yards and the like. With the repeal of the 1908 Auckland and Manukau Canal Act in 2010, there is no intention of land being taken … under the Public Works Act, for a canal. So, the reserve at Ōtāhuhu remains, more or less, simply as a historical anomaly.

These historical proposals all differ,  in one major respect, from my Māngere Inlet proposal. Past writers saw such an isthmus canal as a means of access to the Waitematā from the west. They were not at all envisaging a day when the Waitematā port itself might need to be disestablished. Rather they wanted to shorten the sea routes to Auckland from Australia and from the South Island. And – before the Panama Canal – the main sea route from the United Kingdom. Indeed, in the 1900s most passions were exercised over where the canal should be, not whether it should be. The route through New Lynn – though requiring more earthworks than Ōtāhuhu – would have created a more direct shipping route from the Manukau Heads to Port Waitematā.

The economic case for a canal to solve this Auckland access problem diminished with the growth of the railways and the motorways, and more latterly, with the growth of international trade with Asia. Further, the once important coastal shipping industry became only a faint shadow of its former self.

My proposal is for Māngere Inlet as an east coast harbour. The reserve at Ōtāhuhu should remain reserved.

The ‘Port Southdown’ Proposal:

The proposal is that a new Auckland port be created in Māngere Inlet, through the construction of a dyke to the west of the inlet (the site of the old Onehunga bridge could have been a possibility), and a ship canal to the east, presumably at the site of the Ōtāhuhu portage. While a Tāmaki canal itself would be quite small compared to the foreign canals cited – therefore not über‑expensive – other substantial costs would be the re‑acquisition of land, and the construction of tunnels and bridges to allow existing roads and rail lines to cross the canal. There may also need to be a partial relocation of existing railway infrastructure, and of the fuel pipeline to Wiri.

A possibility could be to have a lock running through the dyke. However, there are already coastal shipping facilities at Onehunga. Container transhipment by land from Onehunga to Southdown should not be a problem. The new (low) Māngere Bridge, for which construction started last month, would be incompatible with shipping. Rather, the Māngere side of this facility is intended to have a recreational focus.

The Operational Benefits of the Māngere Inlet site:

Māngere Inlet is the site that best links with the Auckland’s existing industrial locus. It is close to the present Southdown landport; close to Auckland International Airport; close to the Ōtāhuhu railfreight hub; close to both Auckland’s motorways; and close to Auckland’s main southern hinterland. A container port in the Inlet would not conflict with other land uses, because this is already a contaminated industrial zone.

In a future low‑carbon world, shipping and rail will need to displace road haulage. It means that there will be a substantial revival of coastal shipping, given the constraints on rail expansion in New Zealand. A Tāmaki canal – giving Auckland a new east coast port – can facilitate coastal transhipment between Auckland, Northland and Bay of Plenty.

The Operational Costs:

I expect that there will be a need for ongoing dredging of Māngere Inlet. However, with no river outlets into the new harbour basin, the accumulation of silt may not prove to be the major problem it is in many foreign ports.

Such a low‑cost operation contrasts substantially with the operational costs associated with getting substantially more freight into (and out of) Auckland by land. These high operational costs are all characteristics of the Northland, Bay of Plenty, and Firth of Thames proposals.

The Capital Costs:

These are the cost of construction (canal, dyke, and new port facilities), of initial dreging, of land acquisition, and of building new road and rail links under and over the canal. (And maybe a railway over the dyke – from Onehunga to Middlemore – with a branch to the airport.)

While probably higher than for the other options, these costs may not be much higher if the other options are costed properly. For example, the costs to the residents of West Auckland that would arise from intensive rail and road freight construction (and operations) from Northland would need to be properly included in the Northland option that the present government appears to be favouring.

A Level Playing Field:

A Tamaki‑Southdown‑Māngere proposal – such as that outlined here – should be included as an option for a relocation site for Port Waitematā. The comparative cost‑benefit analysis should be equitable, with due consideration for differences in the long‑term operational benefits and costs, with transport sustainability – impact on climate change among other things – firmly in mind.

What if your country was swallowed by the sea? Kiribati (pop. 100,000) is one of the first countries that must confront the main existential dilemma of our time – imminent annihilation from sea-level rise. This documentary, Anote’s Ark, has been blamed by Kiribati immigration officials for their block on foreign journalists.

Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk

A controversial climate change documentary showing at the Sundance Film Festival has been blamed for the Kiribati government blocking journalists from entering the country to report on the fatal sinking of a passenger ferry.

The MV Butiraoi broke in half and sank three weeks ago, with more than 90 people missing and presumed dead.

Newshub Pacific affairs correspondent Michael Morrah said his passport was confiscated when he and other Newshub staff landed in the country on Monday.

LISTEN:  NZ TV crew banned from reporting Kiribati ferry disaster – RNZ

They were told they were no longer to report on the sinking, because their reporting could impact on the country’s own investigation into the tragedy.

Australian Broadcasting Corporation journalists were also reportedly barred from travelling to Kiribati to report on the disaster.

According to Morrah, “the government’s recent hostility towards international press coverage appears to be rooted in the screening of a documentary at the Sundance Film Festival, Anote’s Ark.

“The country’s previous President, Anote Tong, was the subject of the film, which focused on climate change in Kiribati.

“In the doco, he spoke about why he had purchased land in Fiji and the serious and imminent threat of rising seas to the future of his people.  

“But his views don’t gel with the current President Taneti Mamau. In November Mamau said the idea of Kiribati sinking and becoming a deserted nation was ‘misleading and pessimistic’.” 

• Michael Morrah’s report from Kiribati on Pacific Media Watch
• ‘We prayed with them until they were dead’
• Anote’s Ark documentary trailer

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz