M/V Luta arrival faces yet another delay
The arrival of the cargo and passenger vessel M/V Luta will be delayed yet again.
According to Senate President Victor B. Hocog (Ind-Rota), the vessel is currently undergoing another round of certification from the U.S. Coast Guard.
Hocog said after certification has been done on the vessel’s newly installed crane, and life rafts, it’s now under a 24-hour “open sea” test.
Hocog said owners of the vessel would have no choice but follow the regulations.
“Yes, it will be delayed again,” Hocog said, adding that he do not have any new information as to when the vessel will finally reach the CNMI, particularly Rota.
Back in April, the owner of M/V Luta was said to consider waiving the transport fees of agricultural produce in the CNMI.
This is apparently one of the concessions the privately owned vessel is willing to give, after getting a significant funding support for its fuel and other costs.
Hocog earlier confirmed that $400,000 was approved for use by M/V Luta, a retrofitted cargo and passenger vessel owned by Japanese company, Luta Mermaid LLC.
Hocog said the owner of M/V Luta is also proposing to waive the fees for all farm produce transported between Guam and the CNMI.
Hocog said the fund will be mostly used for the fuel costs for M/V Luta as it sails from the U.S. mainland to the CNMI. He clarified that the funds will be good for up to seven months of the vessel’s operations.
With the subsidy, M/V Luta can, in return, will provide discounts particularly on cargo fees transported between Guam, Rota, Saipan, and Tinian, Hocog said.
Rota Legislative Delegation Resolution 19-03 was approved “to authorize the Department of Finance to pay for fuel, lubrication, and other costs necessary for the maiden voyage of the vessel from Louisiana to its new home port in Rota, and to provide for the personnel and operational costs of the Office of the Mayor of Rota.”
The Rota Legislative Delegation adopted the resolution on March 20.
The vessel was said to set sail from Louisiana on April 15, and is expected to the reach the CNMI in about 36 days, but now, the schedule of its arrival remains unclear.
Buenas,
We wanted to be neutral relating to the MV Luta’s predicament, but as we read negative comments in the Variety, we were not going to keep our mouth shut.
It is very sad that whenever someone in our community wants to contribute to our society, we tend to have a negative mentality toward such individual. Yes, in the beginning we had doubt on the feasibility of the MV Luta’s propose missions or goals in the CNMI and at times we were critical of such endeavor. But after paying a visit and living in the MV Luta’s quarters for several days, our attitude change and we see things different. MV Luta had been transform into a state of the art vessel and we foresee the potential that maybe harness to help our people in the CNMI. We had spoken to many of our people over the years about visiting the Northern Islands, and we were surprised that many had not set a foot on such place. MV Luta would change things in the CNMI. It would give individuals the opportunity to migrate or visit the northern part of our island chain and it would provide the transport of goods on a normal basis to our populated islands. Also, it would avail low cost of moving equipment for potential business owners in the CNMI and it would encourage would be local entrepreneurs to invest their money in our economy. Imagine the multiplier affect to our economy that MV Luta would provide for our society. We encourage each and everyone of our people to be patient and let us nurture the potential what MV Luta may or can provide for our dearest island chain. Let us be positive and be more forgiving to others in our lives.
Si Yu’us Ma’ase