By Ron Rocky Coloma
Pacific island countries face mounting obstacles to modernizing aging shipping fleets as limited financing, inadequate infrastructure and shortages of technical expertise threaten efforts to reduce fuel dependence without making essential transportation more expensive.
Regional officials and maritime specialists warned during a recent webinar that international commitments to cut shipping emissions will accomplish little unless island governments can secure grants, collect reliable operating data and maintain services to remote communities.
The Micronesian Center for Sustainable Transport hosted the discussion, which examined the challenges of replacing diesel-powered vessels across a region where ships carry food, medicine, fuel and passengers between widely separated islands.
Vanuatu Climate Change Minister Ralph Regenvanu said small economies cannot afford the quality of shipping service their populations need, while rising fuel prices place additional pressure on households.
“Shipping is our lifeline, an essential societal service that we all need, but few can afford it,” Regenvanu said.
He said Pacific fleets are small and aging, and their routes are often commercially difficult. Technologies developed for major international shipping routes cannot simply be transferred to domestic island services without considering safety, maintenance and affordability.
“Lower emissions with greater hardship is not a just transition,” he said.
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Financing emerged as a central concern. Maritime researcher Alison Newell said many routes serving isolated communities cannot operate profitably and depend on government vessels or subsidies. That makes conventional lending a poor fit for projects intended primarily to maintain essential services.
“Simply coming in with low interest or concessional loans isn’t going to solve the problem,” Newell said.
She said efforts to secure financing for the Marshall Islands' wind-assisted cargo vessel required three attempts before Germany agreed to support the pilot. Obtaining funding took longer than building the ship, she said.
Applications to the Green Climate Fund can present additional hurdles because projects must work through accredited entities that meet the fund's requirements. Newell said seeking full grant financing narrows the number of organizations able to support an application.
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Another difficulty is that emissions reductions from small island shipping projects can appear modest when measured against global totals, even when reliable transport is critical to the communities involved.
Marshall Islands presidential special envoy for maritime decarbonization Albon Ishoda also called for grants rather than financing that would increase countries' existing debt burdens.
The problems extend beyond the cost of purchasing vessels. Participants said ports, spare parts and workforce preparation must be considered together because buying a cleaner ship does not guarantee that operators can keep it running.
For outer island residents, interruptions in service can affect access to essential goods and travel.
Fiji Director of Transport Planning Aseri Driu said older fleets face operational, safety and financial challenges, while alternative propulsion systems require suitable ports, equipment and trained workers.
Governments must plan for charging or alternative fuel facilities alongside vessel upgrades, she said. Engineers, technicians, crews and regulators will also need training to operate and maintain new systems.
Driu identified insufficient data as an immediate obstacle to Fiji's planning. Authorities need consistent records of fuel consumption, voyages and vessel performance to establish baselines and assess whether proposed investments deliver savings.
“Without a credible baseline, it is difficult to set targets, let alone design projects or verify savings,” she said.
Fiji is working with the Global Green Growth Institute on maritime planning and efforts to improve transport fuel monitoring. Driu said coordination among transport, energy, finance, climate and maritime safety agencies is necessary to move projects forward.
Maritime academic Michael Vahs raised another maintenance concern: Pacific operators use secondhand vessels built with different engines, electrical systems and equipment. Maintaining that variety requires different spare parts and expertise, potentially leaving ships out of service.
He suggested that countries consider more standardized fleets, allowing operators to share equipment, maintenance knowledge and trained crews. He also encouraged incremental improvements to existing ships while governments seek funding for larger investments.
Vahs pointed to the Marshall Islands' wind-assisted vessel, the SV Juren Ae, as a promising demonstration. He said initial measurements showed fuel savings exceeding 50%, with potential for further improvement as crews gain experience with its wind and hybrid propulsion systems.
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However, he cautioned that reaching higher savings requires continued testing, monitoring and training rather than expecting new technology to perform at full potential immediately.
Aileen Sefeti, co-director of the Micronesian Center for Sustainable Transport, said Pacific countries also face uncertainty over how proposed international shipping emissions measures could affect freight and import costs. She said the region needs an agreed method to assess those consequences.
The Pacific Blue Shipping Partnership is working to coordinate national maritime plans, technical standards and potential investments, including a regional financing proposal involving the Green Climate Fund. Its participating countries include Fiji, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
Sefeti said global rules aimed at large international ships will not, by themselves, transform the smaller domestic and interisland vessels on which Pacific communities depend.
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