Suilven sinks, crew members rescued

A local vessel, Suilven sunk close to the passage of the Suva Harbour yesterday afternoon.

Police confirm that all 31 crew members on board were rescued.

According to eyewitnesses the vessel started listing as it was coming into Suva.

It was there for some time and tried going out again.

We contacted Fiji Ports Corporation Limited as it was happening and witnessed a tug boat going out to the vessel.

Fijivillage has received information that the vessel was carrying a large shipment. We are also getting reports that the MV Suilven started experiencing problems after it encountered strong winds near Naselai.

It is understood the cargo shifted to one side of the vessel which caused problems for the vessel from that stage as it headed towards Suva.

It is not known at this stage on whether any distress call made by the crew at the time.

The shipping company that owns the vessel does not want to say anything.

One of the employees says no passengers were on board and it was only carrying cargo.

However he then said he cannot say anything further.

The Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji says they will not comment further.

Serious concerns are being raised on why all the information is not being shared by the ports officials and we have received numerous calls.

Questions have also been raised on the reaction time as the vessel was in distress for some time but there was no immediate reaction.

We are still trying to check the shipping company on whether any distress call was sent out by the vessel.

It would have been a major disaster if the vessel would have blocked the passage as it would have affected the entry of cargo and cruise vessels.

We are now awaiting comments from the Fiji Ports Corporation on the monitoring of vessels and the action plans in place.