Officials from the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the United Nations body that sets global shipping rules, Fiji’s Ministry of Transport and the Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji (MSAF), the national maritime regulator, say Fiji already has a framework of maritime laws and international commitments — and that the harder question is how well those rules are put into practice.
Their comments, tied to this year’s World Maritime Day celebration, were reported by FBC News on 27 September 2026. The IMO observes World Maritime Day in the last week of September, with each government choosing its own date.
Key facts
- MSAF says Fiji has adopted several IMO conventions and translated them into national laws and policies, according to FBC News.
- MSAF Manager Governance, Legal and Board Secretary Salaseini Lesianawai says the strength of any maritime law depends on how well it is implemented and enforced: “We manage the risks, we manage the lives.”
- IMO representative Sitalingi Payne says international standards give countries whose ships cross borders a common framework, but that bringing those standards into practice is “still a challenge up to now.”
- Ministry of Transport Planner in Maritime Chanel Mavoa says Fiji has committed, through its 3.0 nationally determined contributions, to cut maritime sector emissions by 30 percent by 2040.
- That commitment sits with the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, Mavoa says, and several strategies are being developed to address Fiji’s maritime priorities.
- FBC reports that implementing international maritime standards in Pacific Island countries cannot follow a one-size-fits-all approach.
- No new law, regulation, enforcement programme or funding figure is announced in the report.
Why it matters
Lesianawai framed the issue as one of lives rather than paperwork. “Safety is not easy because things have not happened, but safety is what we manage. We manage the risks, we manage the lives,” she told FBC News.
She said the strength of any maritime law ultimately depends on how well it is implemented and enforced, and that effective implementation, enforcement and coordination are critical to ensuring Fiji’s laws translate into safer operations at sea.
That distinction matters in an archipelago where inter-island vessels are a primary link between islands and where the gap between a rule on the statute book and a rule observed at the wharf is what decides outcomes when something goes wrong. Pacific search-and-rescue cases make the point: four Kiribati fishermen who survived four days adrift were found alive because a search was mounted, not because their boat had passed any inspection.
Enforcement, not just legislation
The MSAF position reported by FBC draws a distinction between adopting conventions and operating under them. Lesianawai said Fiji has taken IMO instruments and written them into national law and policy, but that having laws in place is not the same as safety. Safety, in her account, is a matter of managing risk.
She also pointed to a coordination problem: the responsibilities of agencies and organisations often overlap, which she said is why maritime safety requires cooperation. FBC does not name which Fijian bodies she had in mind, and the report describes no specific enforcement actions, audits or penalties.
What the IMO’s core conventions require
Neither MSAF nor FBC names the instruments concerned. According to the IMO’s own published descriptions of its treaties, its core conventions cover: SOLAS, on ship construction, firefighting and lifesaving equipment, radio communications and safe navigation; MARPOL, on pollution from ships, including air emissions under Annex VI; STCW, on seafarer training, certification and watchkeeping; the Load Lines Convention, on how deeply a vessel may be loaded; and COLREG, the collision-avoidance rules.
At national level those instruments become survey regimes, certificates, crew licensing, equipment carriage rules and inspection powers. The IMO also runs its own compliance machinery: the IMO Member State Audit Scheme, mandatory since 2016, audits how each member discharges its duties as flag, port and coastal state, while port state control allows authorities to board and detain substandard foreign ships. FBC does not report when Fiji was last audited or what the findings were.
The 30 percent emissions target
The environmental side of the agenda was set out by Mavoa, who said Fiji’s commitment under its 3.0 nationally determined contributions — the national climate pledges countries file under the international climate process — includes decarbonising or reducing emissions from the maritime sector by 30 percent by 2040.
“So that’s our commitment nationally,” Mavoa said of the target, which she attributed to work through the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. She said several strategies are being developed to address Fiji’s maritime priorities, including emissions reduction and preparing for the future of maritime transport.
The report does not give a baseline year for the 30 percent figure, a cost estimate, or say which vessels and operators would be covered — the three variables that determine whether the target is demanding or nominal. The IMO’s greenhouse gas strategy groups the available measures into technical ones covering ship design and machinery, fuel-related ones covering alternative fuels, and operational efficiency measures; FBC does not report which of those routes Fiji intends to use, or who would pay for them.
On cost, neither official quoted by FBC addressed the price of the transition or its effect on freight and fares. By way of context from this outlet’s earlier reporting rather than anything said at the event, fuel already absorbs 52 percent of Energy Fiji Limited’s revenue — an indication of how heavily imported diesel already weighs on Fijian utilities. Whether the maritime target is costed against that wider energy picture is not addressed in the report.
How it compares with the IMO’s own target
Read against the IMO’s own framework, 30 percent by 2040 is the more modest number. The organisation’s 2023 revised greenhouse gas strategy commits international shipping to cutting total annual emissions by at least 70 percent, and striving for 80 percent, by 2040 measured against 2008, with net zero by or around 2050.
The two figures are not like-for-like. The IMO trajectory applies to the international fleet, Fiji’s pledge is a national commitment covering its own maritime sector, and FBC does not report a baseline year for the Fijian target.
A regional problem, not only a Fijian one
Payne, speaking for the IMO, put Fiji’s position in a regional frame. She said international standards matter because ships operate across borders and countries need a common framework, but that translating those standards into practice is the difficulty — and the theme of this World Maritime Day celebration.
From a regional and international perspective, Payne said, it is important to identify similar needs across different countries, work out what support is needed, and determine how regional and international efforts can provide it. FBC reports that for Pacific Island countries, implementation cannot follow a one-size-fits-all approach.
What to watch
FBC frames the story around a question rather than an announcement: how effectively Fiji’s existing maritime policies are being implemented, and what more is needed to make the sector safer, better coordinated and more sustainable. The report gives no figures on maritime incidents, inspections, vessel numbers or funding, and cites no FJD amounts.
Three things would test the officials’ claims. First, publication of the strategies Mavoa says are in development, with a baseline year and a covered-vessel definition attached to the 30 percent target. Second, MSAF inspection and detention numbers, which would show whether enforcement capacity matches the statute book.
Third, whether the overlapping-agency problem Lesianawai identified is resolved by a formal coordination mechanism or left to goodwill. On the evidence the broadcaster presents, the common thread across all three speakers — the IMO, the Ministry of Transport and MSAF — is that the instruments exist and the implementation work does not yet match them.
Frequently Asked Questions
What emissions target has Fiji set for its maritime sector?
A 30 percent cut by 2040. Ministry of Transport Planner in Maritime Chanel Mavoa told FBC News that Fiji has committed, through its 3.0 nationally determined contributions, to decarbonise or reduce maritime sector emissions by 30 percent by 2040, and that the commitment sits with the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. The report does not give a baseline year, a cost estimate, or say which vessels and operators are covered.
Which IMO conventions has Fiji adopted?
MSAF’s Salaseini Lesianawai told FBC News that Fiji has adopted several International Maritime Organization conventions and translated them into national laws and policies, but the report does not name them. The IMO’s core instruments are SOLAS on safety of life at sea, MARPOL on pollution from ships, STCW on seafarer training and certification, the Load Lines Convention on how deeply a ship may be loaded, and COLREG, the collision regulations.
What did MSAF say about enforcing maritime law?
That the law is only the starting point. "Safety is not easy because things have not happened, but safety is what we manage. We manage the risks, we manage the lives," Lesianawai told FBC News, adding that the strength of any maritime law ultimately depends on how well it is implemented and enforced, and that overlapping agency responsibilities make cooperation necessary.
How does Fiji’s 30 percent by 2040 target compare with the IMO’s own climate targets?
It is less steep, but it measures something different. The IMO’s 2023 revised greenhouse gas strategy commits international shipping to cutting total annual emissions by at least 70 percent, striving for 80 percent, by 2040 against a 2008 baseline, and to net zero by or around 2050. Fiji’s 30 percent figure is a national pledge covering its own maritime sector rather than the international fleet, and FBC News does not report its baseline year, so the two numbers are not directly comparable.
Who checks whether a country actually implements IMO rules?
Three mechanisms do. The IMO Member State Audit Scheme, mandatory since 2016, audits how states discharge their obligations as flag, port and coastal states; flag state inspection covers ships on a country’s own register; and port state control lets authorities inspect visiting foreign ships. The FBC News report does not say when Fiji was last audited or how many inspections MSAF carries out.
