The Ministry of Transport remains tight-lipped about an investigation into a Taio Shipping vessel fire from early November 2023, which damaged cargo destined for the northern group islands.

The MV Lady Moana is back in service, loaded and set to make its 295^th voyage shipping cargo to Mangaia. 

The vessel caught fire en route to Penrhyn in early November last year, resulting in a loss of $90,000 of goods. The ship was also destined for Rakahanga and Manihiki.

The fire broke out at the top of the ship, along the monkey island where the main cargo is frozen goods. 

Dried, non-perishable goods, frozen items earmarked for Christmas and motorcycles were among cargo either directly damaged by the fire, or indirectly lost due to freezer damage. 

Following the incident, the Ministry of Transport launched an investigation. However, when Cook Islands News inquired about an update yesterday, the Ministry referred the newspaper to Taio Shipping Ltd.

Taio Shipping director Josh Taio commended the crew for putting out the fire quickly. 

“The crew, based on their training and regular ship drills, managed to put the fire out very safely. We’re very thankful that through the guidance of our SMS manual onboard crew managed to put it out. We’re very lucky.” 

The vessel was checked by a surveyor and all safety issues were resolved. Damages were repaired in Rarotonga before the ship was sent to Tahiti for planned maintenance. 

Taio said: “The boat is now in good condition and ready to start work again,” and the MV Lady Moana crew and confident moving forward.”

The trip to Mangaia is the vessel’s first voyage since the incident. 

Penrhyn Islands executive officer Puna Vano previously told Cook Islands News that the island was “badly hit” by the Lady Moana fire. 

“Since we were the first port of unloading, our cargo was mostly placed on top, so it got destroyed. There were two ways the goods were damaged: firstly, through fire and secondly through water, seawater I believe, that was used to put out the fire. The pallets placed at the bottom did not get damaged,” he said.

Among the cargo were four brand new motorcycles – one for Penrhyn and three for Manihiki – and two pushbikes for Penrhyn. Vano said they were all destroyed in the fire, “with only iron frames and rims left”.

“The corned beef, a whole lot of it, even the Sprite, Coke, and the other fizzy drinks were all gone. However, according to the shipping manifest, the majority of the cargo onboard the vessel was okay,” he added.

A Rakahanga Island Government official said some of their dry goods, like onions and potatoes, were destroyed, and they had to send the frozen goods back to Rarotonga because they had defrosted.

“The cargo also got wet because of the rain,” the official said.

At Manihiki, the vessel stopped at two ports, and the island’s acting executive officer, Justine William, said their cargo was also not spared.

“We had to send all the frozen goods back to Rarotonga because there was too much risk (of consuming them). We had our health inspector check the freezer, and the Island Council decided we didn’t want to take any risk with those goods,” William said.

In December a Cook Islands General Transport (CIGT) barge was sent to replace the items lost on the Lady Moana, but also met trouble due to storm-like weather. The crew diverted to Manihiki where they restrapped and returned to Penrhyn. 

Some of the goods on the CIGT shipment arrived with salt water damage.

Vano said: “The barge manager had called and mentioned the goods. It is something way beyond our control, a natural disaster,” Vano said.

“We got the goods to replace those damaged from the fire, sustain us until January as the next ship would come by the end of February or early March.”