Ads by Google Ads by Google

Samoa inter-island travellers stranded

Samoa Shipping Corporation ferry
Sources: RNZI and Samoa Observer

Apia, SAMOA — Hundreds of inter-island travellers in Samoa are stranded after Samoa's Shipping Corporation cancelled services for the second day.

The service between Upolu and Savaii islands has been suspended due to bad weather.

The corporation says safety is a priority and it won't open its service until the weather improves.

Samoa Meteorology Division Assistant Chief Executive Officer, Tainau Mulipola Titimaea, told Samoa Observer that the current weather being experienced is due to a tropical disturbance near Samoa. 

The MET Office will continue to monitor the weather in the next 24 to 48 hours, he said, before making a assessment on whether the tropical disturbance will turn into a depression and become a tropical cyclone. 

“The development system, which is currently in its moderate stage, has the potential to develop into a tropical cyclone." 

But only in the next 24-48 hours can we be quite clear on the development of this tropical disturbance to become a depression or event into obtaining a tropical cyclone,” he said, in an interview. 

The Samoa Shipping Corporation Ltd advised in a public notice on its Facebook page yesterday that it was cancelling all shipping services between Upolu and Savai’i.

Mr. Titimaea said the severe weather advisory from the MET Office remains in effect, but Samoa is not in immediate danger as the tropical disturbance is about 600 kilometers northwest of Samoa and is more closer to Fiji. 

The tropical disturbance is bringing a lot of moisture accompanied by heavy rain and strong winds, which are the first stage elements of a tropical disturbance, according to Mr. Titimaea.

Read more at Samoa Observer