SURVEYING VANUATU A SURVEYOR’S NIGHTMARE!


A look into the hardships of surveying in the third world. Vanuatu


is


situated in the south western Pacific having New Zealand 1200 miles to the south east, Australia 1000 miles to the west and Fiji 320miles to the east.


It consists of 85 Islands of which half are populated and relies on sea transport for cargo and passenger travel. The archipelago was previously a condominium between England and France and was known as “The New Hebrides” after which it gained its independence in 1983 with a name change to “Vanuatu”.


As a tax free country, a shipping registry was started with offices


in New York which generated an astounding revenue for the country and joined in the benefits equal to Panama, Cayman, The Chanel Islands and Jersey. The Vanuatu Maritime Authority (VMA) was initiated and run by a Canadian Expatriate, John Rosin and his team.


John ran a tight ship and all registered vessels had to comply with IMO and the State Law or feel the wrath of John.


In the late nineties, many of the local Island traders were owned by government ministers and used them as an alternate source of revenue while controlling the flow


58 | The Report • December 2017 • Issue 82


of passengers, especially at the time of elections. These vessels are purchased near the end of their life. Here is an example: After a vessel is built in Japan, used for 10 years is then sold to Papa Nguni and used for a further 10 years, then to Solomon Islands and finally Vanuatu, where they come to die. Vanuatu has a frightful record of loosing at least one vessel each year due to low maintenance, bad management and poor crew operations. The VMA started to ground the vessels that did not comply with the rules and this caused a problem with the owners who saw fit to take it to parliament and voted on the removal of John Rosin and caused the dissolving of


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80