Dear Editor,
The Cook Islands Chamber of Commerce has rightly raised concerns about MFEM’s apparent proposal to take on the management of two new interisland vessels earmarked to enter service later this year. These concerns deserve serious public consideration.
Interisland shipping is not simply another government asset to be managed. It is a complex, high-risk service that underpins economic activity, food security, outer island connectivity and private enterprise across the Pa Enua. Locally and internationally, this sector is well known for extremely thin margins, high operating costs, exposure to weather disruption, fuel volatility and ongoing maintenance demands. Running a commercially viable interisland shipping operation is extraordinarily difficult, and in many cases impossible, without some form of subsidy or risk-sharing arrangement.
This reality is precisely why governments around the world choose to partner with the private sector to deliver shipping services, rather than attempting to dominate or displace it.
It is therefore concerning that, over the festive season, there were conversations circulating within business circles suggesting that certain government officials viewed the arrival of the two new vessels as an opportunity to effectively eliminate existing private shipping operators. Whether such remarks were made casually or otherwise, this perception – if left unaddressed – signals a troubling mindset. Government should not be seen to celebrate the weakening or collapse of local private operators who have carried this burden for years, often at great financial risk.
The role of government is not to crowd out private enterprise, but to work alongside it in the public interest. Interisland shipping is a textbook example of a service where collaboration, not competition, is required. Subsidies, service contracts, shared-risk models and clear performance expectations are all tools that can be used constructively – if there is genuine engagement and mutual respect between public institutions and industry operators.
What is urgently needed now is for government to sit down with the business community, existing shipping operators and key industry stakeholders to openly and transparently hash out a long-term plan. That plan should focus on consistency of service, affordability for outer islands, operational resilience and fair treatment of private operators who have kept interisland shipping alive under extremely challenging conditions.
Interisland shipping should not become another arena for institutional overreach or quiet empire-building. It should remain a shared national effort, guided by pragmatism, partnership and a clear focus on serving the public interest.
Stability, reliability and cooperation – not dominance – are what will best serve the people of the Cook Islands.
Yours sincerely,
Concerned Business Observer
(Name and address supplied)
