The South Pacific Island Countries are looking at the feasibility of developing a regional hub port. There is apparently a study currently underway by the South Pacific Communities. When I saw a brief article on this subject it reminded me of some conversations on a similar subject I had in Hawaii in the late 70s. It also brought to mind that American Samoa has the best port in the South Pacific, we are centrally located and we might very well have tons of empty port space as the canneries pull out. So, what better place to use as a regional hub?

This is a subject I don’t know much about but I would like to get a little input from those who do. This is how I see it purely as a layman:

We can bring goods, with ultimate destinations somewhere in the region, to Pago Pago harbor in the largest, most modern and most efficient ships. The shipments can be discharged on our relatively unused wharfs. The shipments can then be repacked and shipped by tug and barge to all points in the region.

The former Samoa Packing wharf, warehouses and freezers will be excellent storage and repacking facilities. There might even be a case made for a “foreign trade zone”.

The tugs and barges arrive at small regional destinations, they will be able to dock at even the smallest wharf or anchor in very shallow waters where they can be discharged while the tug carries on to the next port. The tug picks up the barge on the return voyage and maybe even leaves another barge, from a different port, behind for discharge and refilling.

The advantage here is that the barges are very cheap as compared to a powered vessel. They can be positioned strategically to allow for maximum advantage to each location.

I also learned that barges are very safe and reliable. Apparently so much so that insurance is actually cheaper for barged shipments than for shipments on powered vessels. Or does that have something to do with “general averages”?

Another interesting aspect of having tugs and barges in our port is that containers for the canneries can be transported across the bay on a barge, thus relieving stress on our roads and, I would assume, drastically reducing the cost of moving containers back and forth.

I would guess that a hub port facility might employ hundreds of people and bring a huge amount of new activity to our port. The hub port would create a need for new support industries. There will be many business people visiting and filling our hotel rooms, eating in our restaurants, renting our cars and shopping for American products to take home.

Anyway, I hope someone with more information will comment on this suggestion. And I hope our local government will see fit to pursue this opportunity.