The Fiji Ports Corporation Limited only deals with the berthing application of an inter-island vessel.

FPCL’s Chief Executive Vajira Piyasena revealed this after it was highlighted that some ferry passengers have had to endure waiting times up to three hours in some cases while waiting for their vessels to berth at Suva’s Narayan jetty.

Piyasena says vessel operators schedule their expected arrival times and inform Ports accordingly.

“Our role is very clear, our role is basically with this inter-island vessel, when they submit their berthing application to make a berth available and to facilitate their loading, discharging and their passengers’ movement so basically it is done for their safety but the rest is all up to the ship operators.”

Piyasena says their only responsibility is to ensure they facilitate the movement of passengers into the vessels including the vehicles that move in and out of the wharf.