News

The Pelena Express vessel, Namita Rose, was not damaged in the earthquake and tsunami of Monday, 2nd April 2007, as it was out at sea delivering passengers and cargo on its normal route. The crew saw the trees shaking on shore and the coconuts dropping to the ground. The devastation when they reached port was shocking and rescue and relief work has been continuing since then using the Namita Rose.....medical aid, water, food, communications (via the onboard satellite phone), transport.

Peter Lynch, of Pelena Energy in Australia, is in regular contact with the boat's owner and skipper, Nixon Silas, by satellite phone. Updates can be found at: Earthquake-April2007

The Pelena Express vessel, the Namita Rose, is now ferrying passengers between Gizo and Munda in the Western Province of Solomon Islands (as of January 2007).

The Low in the Solomon Sea has developed into a tropical cyclone today. It has been named "Yani".The Australian Bureau of Meteorology stated today "At noon, Wednesday 22/11/2006, the Fiji Met service named tropical cyclone Yani in the Solomon Sea near 12.3S 162.5E [995hPa] some 1800 km east of Cairns. All of our computer guidance in the long term shows that Tropical Cyclone Yani is no direct threat to Queensland owing to the lack of any strong steering current and the static pattern in our hemisphere."

Our chosen skipper with over 35 years experience in shipping around the world has informed us he sees little chance of us departing Cairns until Friday next week! This is not good news. The cost of staying here in Cairns is very expensive. Additionally, Puia and Nixon's Solomons Australian visas expire this Friday. It is likely the route to Solomon Islands will no longer be direct. We'll have to travel further along the coast of Australia and then head east across the Southern border of PNG. The delays and extra fuel that will be required to get the vessel to Solomon Islands via this circuitous route is likely going to be A$8,000 to A$9,000in addition to the hiring costs for the skipper.

If you are able to assist, we would be very grateful. Our bank details are below. We are not a charity and any funds would not allow you a tax deduction. We will do our best to repay any donations, but we cannot guarantee this. Should you wish to donate, please include your surname and postcode (eg. Smith 2453) as a reference and please send Peter Lynch an email so we can confirm receipt of funds, peterlynch@pelena.com.au.

Best wishes and many thanks for all your support and well wishes. Bank Details for Pelena Energy in Australia: These funds will be used by this project - Pelena Express.

We found a suitable "Class 4 Master" (skipper) from Brisbane over the weekend to fulfil the new requirements of Solomon Maritime. There was a weather opening for our voyage appearing on Sunday when he arrived, but this disappeared so we decided he should fly back to Brisbane as the next opening appeared to be this Friday.

Some very very generous private individuals have assisted us by lending and donating some funds to pay for this skipper. many thanks to them - un-named here. Their generosity has shed more than a tear from myself and the crew.

However, with the good luck comes some disappointing news. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has issued the following statement: "At noon, Monday 20/11/2006, a 1000hPa tropical low was centred well out in the Coral Sea near 12.1S 161.E and moving west southwest at 10km/hr. The low has a moderate to high chance of developing into a tropical cyclone during the next few days." (ref http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDQ10810.shtml). This location is to the South of Rennel Island (in Solomon Islands). We'll be keeping a close watch on this Low. All options are on the table.

The most likely route at this stage will be to travel further north along the coast of Australia and then head across to PNG. The further north we travel the less chance of cyclones.

We had some Urunga visitors - Derik and Denise - who had watched our departure earlier this month. Their support and interest is appreciated.

Much love to all our supporters - your support and encouragement is always very welcomed. Again we invite the Australian Government to come on board.

Still stuck in Cairns!

GOOD AND BAD NEWS

The good news is that the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) and Solomon Island Maritime have agreed to allow us to undertake the delivery voyage from Cairns to Solomon Islands. This then clears our way with Australian Customs to depart Australia.

The bad news is that they have made a number of conditions on our voyage, in particular that we require a “Class 4 Skipper (Master)” on board the vessel. Such a qualified person is difficult to find – Class 4 is a high qualification not normally required for such a vessel or voyage.

This is additional to the added thousands of dollars spent because we’re “marooned” here in Cairns for over a week – not a cheap place to have a boat & crew.

We don’t have these funds. We have again requested assistance from the Australian Government, but if such funds are forthcoming, it would likely be after a clear weather opening for this Monday.

An appeal: if you are able to assist by donating any funds to help this cause, please phone Peter Lynch on 0428 426 520 to discuss.

Why didn’t we plan for this? The answer is simple – we planned and budgeted based on the recommendations of Solomon Maritime some twelve months ago and the advice received from Australian marine authorities for a delivery voyage of a foreign vessel of this type. The SI requirements included training of five Solomon Islanders at the School of Marine in Honiara. However, it would appear the rules have changed under the pressure of Australia, likely through RAMSI’s involvement. A strengthening of safety rules are to be encouraged – so long as they can be enforced in the local environment. We believe our vessel will be a shining example for safety in Solomon Islands. Many of the safety systems and procedures have been developed to provide a sustainable and maintainable safety system. We do not believe an item, such as a liferaft, is a safe option when it is out of date in 6 months & un-serviceable in the local area. Instead we have developed equivalent safety systems which are maintainable in the local context and still meet international safety standards (USL codes).

A comment: We are a private Australian company. We are not a charity or an NGO. We do not attempt to suggest we are a charity or an NGO. We do aim to provide sustainable solutions for helping people in remote rural areas in places such as Solomon Islands. What we do and how we do it appears to be regarded as very unusual – that a private business could be doing something ethical! This is a sad reflection on business in Australia in general.

We are tired & disgusted of being treated as a front for illegal or unethical activity by so many departments inside the Australian Government. Along the way with this project we have had to battle various government departments after being accused of

“double dipping” in relation to requesting a fuel excise exemption for the export of a vessel;
Setting up a foreign tax haven
“wink-wink nod-nod” comments from potential govt funding program representatives suggesting our business is a front for illegal activity
That we must be getting Aust govt aid money and we are corrupt by disguising it behind a business front
That we regard the value of a Solomon Islander’s life less than that of an Australian, and subsequently skimped on safety equipment
That we are an international scammer

These accusations are totally unjust and cut to the core of what we’re trying to do. I appeal also to the elected politicians of Australia to “come on board” with this project and I appeal to members of the Australian public to contact their local MP and request direct action be taken to assisting Pelena. After all, what we are doing –transportation - was cited by the Australian Government as being a critical infrastructure component for the development of Solomon Islands. The Australian Government’s 2004 report titled “Solomon Islands – Rebuilding an Island Economy” states on page 64 “Without adequate transportation to access health, education and new markets, regional populations will continue to be left out of economic development.” We see many other benefits of our “transportation platform”, and understand we are the only people attempting to directly address this critical infrastructure at the village level.

Your support is required now more than ever!

Many thanks, Peter, Salena, Nixon, Mareta, and Puia

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Here's the first Pelena Express employees, at their maritime training course, who will be operating the vessels upon commencement of services in Solomons:-