Fuel Ship ‘Media’ arrives, and it’s good news for petrol supplies

The Media arrived in town on Thursday afternoon. However, it wasn’t a scrum pack of over-excited international journalists that was involved, but a large and very orange ship bearing the thing the entire island had been eagerly awaiting – supplies of petrol.

The ship berthed at about 2pm shortly after the container ship Liloa departed. The small size of Rarotonga’s harbour leaves little room for error when large ships are berthing, and the Media’s arrival was a source of entertainment for a number of the island’s youngsters, as the ship stretched almost the entire width of the harbour to manoeuvre into its berth.

The Media’s arrival signalled the end of a very busy time for the port, with another container ship, Imua also calling, and the cruise ship Paul Gaugin paying its last visit for the year. Taio Shipping and General Transport vessels were also loading and unloading cargo at the wharf. Harbour master John Jessie said it had been a particularly busy time for the Ports Authority, with tug boats on call to escort the vessels in and out of Rarotonga’s tiny harbour.