It’s like a shopping mall of the high seas, an Aladdin’s cave of treasures and most of all a wave of new opportunities for the Solomon Islands.
Matson’s latest ship the Imua arrived in the Solomon Islands on Wednesday night laden with fresh produce, affordable new consumer goods and much needed supplies for businesses all over town.
From major industrial freezers to boxes of crisp broccoli, plumbing and building materials and even spare parts for cars, the ship delivered on it’s promise to be a direct link to Australia.
International shipping company Matson has joined forces with local industry leaders Silentworld to deliver a cargo service from Brisbane, delivering goods at lightening speed.
The Imua travels from Brisbane in just four days as compared to other shipping services that can take more than a week and a half.
Silentworld will then distribute goods throughout the provinces, removing confusing shipping handovers and meaning customers will only deal with one shipping contract.
She will arrive in Honiara and Noro every 21 days before travelling on to Nauru providing a reliable and regular supply of goods.
The new shipping route was launched during a function at Breakwater Café on Tuesday night, attended by local business leaders and the Deputy Prime Minister Mannasseh Maelanga.
The name, Imua, is Hawaiian and translates as ‘Moving Forward’ and that’s exactly what she can bring to the Solomon Islands.
Not only does it open up the variety of products that can be delivered straight to our shelves from Brisbane, it also brings new opportunities for Solomon Islands businesses, offering possibilities of bilateral trading through a direct cargo route to all the provinces and onwards to other Pacific nations.
Matson has been operating in the Pacific for the last 130 years, from the humble beginnings of just one boat, they now have a huge network right across the region from Hawaii to Guam, China to Australia and Honiara to Nauru.
Matson also has a regular ship coming from New Zealand via Fiji, Vanuatu to Honiara as well as Tahiti, Samoa, Cook Islands, Niue, Tonga, Wallis and Fortuna, Tarawa and Majuro.
With a pristine environmental record and dedicated company policies to care for the environment, the Solomon Islands welcome Matson to our seas.