Taio Shipping

Taio Shipping

MV Maungaroa II in Avatiu harbour, 2013
Industry	Transport
Founded	1991
Area served	Cook Islands
Key people	Teremoana Tapi Taio
Products	Sea transport

Taio Shipping is a shipping company in the Cook Islands. It is the islands' main inter-island shipping company, and operates freight and passenger services between Rarotonga and the outer islands, with services once or twice a month to Atiu, Mitiaro, Mauke and Mangaia, once every two months to Penrhyn, Rakahanga and Manihiki, and once every two and a half months to Palmerston and Pukapuka.[1]

History

The MV Maungaroa wrecked on the reef at Rarotonga

The company was established in 1991 when Teremoana Tapi Taio purchased a damaged boat, the Acadia, in Rarotonga and obtained a shipping licence.[2]

In September 2005 the Manu Nui ran out of fuel and drifted while travelling from Pukapuka to Rarotonga, after failing to refuel.[3][4]

In June 2006 Taio Shipping diverted the MV Maungaroa from its usual schedule for a charter for the producers of Survivor: Cook Islands, causing a fuel and electricity crisis on the island of Mangaia.[5]

In January 2008 the MV Maungaroa ran aground in Avatiu during a storm.[6]

In October 2010 the MV Te Kou Maru II was stranded on the reef at Mauke.[6] The wreck was left to rust for several years.[7]

In January 2017 the newly purchased MV Moana Nui was wrecked on a reef in Nassau.[8] An investigation attributed the wreck to lack of a detailed chart, inadequate radio communication, and lack of familiarity with the reef.[9] The wreck was still in place a year later.[10] A contract to salvage and remove the wreck was issued in November 2019.[11]

In September 2019 all of the company's ships were detained by the Cook Islands Ministry of Transport after a child was lost overboard from the MV Lady Moana while travelling from Rakahanga to Rarotonga.[12] A subsequent safety assessment by Maritime New Zealand found significant failings on the company's ships, and as a result the MV Grinna II was approved to carry only 12 passengers while the passenger licences for the MV Maungaroa II and MV Lady Moana were withdrawn.[13] While the ships were detained, the northern islands ran out of imported food and petrol.[14] In 2020 the MV Maungaroa II was taken out of service pending sale, and a larger vessel, the MV Maungaroa III, was purchased to replace it.[15]

On 21 March 2022 the Grinna II ran aground on the reef at Manihiki.[16] The vessel was deemed unsalvageable.[17]

Fleet

Current

Name	Built	In service	Gross tonnage	Passengers	Notes
MV Lady Moana	1997	2013 -	163 GT	0	Lost a child overboard at sea in 2019.[18] Passenger licence withdrawn 2019.[13]

Past

Name	Built	In service	Gross tonnage	Passengers	Notes
Grinna II	1980	2018 - 2022	283 GT	12	Wrecked at Manihiki March 2022
Maungaroa II	1978	- 2019	153 GT	0	Passenger licence withdrawn 2019.[13]
MV Moana Nui	1967[19]	2016 - 2017	272 GT	50	Wrecked at Nassau January 2017[8]
MV Te Kou Maru II	1977	- 2010	153 GT		Wrecked at Mauke 2010
MV Maungaroa	1967	1996 - 2008	220 GT		Wrecked at Rarotonga 2008
Manu Nui	1960	2000 -	465 GT
Acadia		1991 - ?

References

1. "Cook Islands Shipping Movements". 25 February 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
2. Katrina Tanirau (30 May 2020). "'Everything I've done has been for our people'". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
3. "Cooks ferry on the way back to Rarotonga after drifting without fuel". RNZ. 6 September 2005. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
4. "Cooks boat left island without required six tonnes of fuel". RNZ. 8 September 2005. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
5. "'SURVIVOR' GETS SUPPLIES, COOKS' MANGAIA DOESN'T". Pacific Islands Report. 9 June 2006. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
6. "CARGO SHIP AGROUND OFF COOKS' MAUKE ISLE". Pacific Islands Report. 11 October 2010. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
7. "Tapi Taio answers Mauke concerns". Cook Islands News. 9 January 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
8. "Grounding disrupts shipping in Cooks outer islands". RNZ. 1 February 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
9. "Hopes Cooks govt takes heed of ship grounding report". RNZ. 10 April 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
10. "Stranded vessel a problem for Northern Cook Islands". RNZ. 27 January 2018. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
11. Melina Etches (19 November 2019). "$750k salvage job on remote Nassau". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
12. "Rarotonga overboard case: Kiwi boy Lapana Tupou feared dead, investigators detain ship". New Zealand Herald. 6 October 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
13. Melina Etches (9 January 2020). "Ships' safety issues reported too late for little Lapana". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
14. "North islands run out of petrol". Cook Islands News. 2 November 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
15. Katrina Tanirau (27 May 2020). "New era of island shipping". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
16. Caleb Fotheringham (23 March 2022). "Shipping vessel runs aground on Manihiki coral reef". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
17. "New plans to be made for Grinna". Cook Islands News. 26 March 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
18. "South Auckland boy lost at sea after falling overboard on family trip to Rarotonga". New Zealand Herald. 29 September 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
19. "New ship for northern Cooks arrives in August". RNZ. 11 May 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2020.