Samoa, also known as the Independent State of Samoa, is made of an archipelago of islands in the Pacific. South-east of the Samoa islands, you will find American Samoa which is unincorporated territory of the USA and consists of a few islands. If you are looking to send cargo to Samoa, or even American Samoa, being aware of the Samoa shipping industry is always recommended especially when business is concerned.
The Samoa Islands include two large island
s (Upolu and Savai’i) and eight islets. Transportation within Samoa is via paved highways and travel between the islands is usually done by ferry between the two main islands. With one international airport in the country, there is one port in the capital (Apia), as well as two ports on both the main islands. Mulifanua is the main ferry terminal on Upolu, which operates a ferry service for passengers, vehicles as well as cargo arriving in the country.
American Samoa is made up of five main islands and with the capital on Tutuila. However, American Samoa has no railways, but operate three airports. However, no merchant marine is possible despite the presence of several harbours.
Samoa Government Raises Shipping Costs
In 2016, the Samoa Government issued a statement in April that the Samoa Ports Authority (SPA) will be increasing the tariff across board on shipping related costs by 5%. Back in 2014, the Government of Samoa were set to increase the tariffs by 25% however, due to the steep increase and the how it will affect shipping in the country, it was agreed that the tariffs will increase annually by 5% in a phased approach with the first done in 2014 and the second which was scheduled for 2016. The increase in shipping costs have been done to aid in the infrastructure developments such as the extension of the Matautu Wharf and more, and will be levied on import/export cargo from Samoa.
Improvements to Samoa Infrastructure
In collaboration with the Japanese government and funding, the Matautu-Tai Wharf, which located on northern bay of the Savai’i Island will see a facelift that will further trading in Samoa and transform it into a transhipment hub. The facelift is done parallel to the improvement to be made at the Apia Port in Upolu and transform it into a secure transhipment port for ships on the Pacific trading lanes as well as to be able to unload and upload cargo containers.
If you are looking to send freight to Samoa, fill out our Quick Quote form to get in touch with us and get an obligation-free shipping quotation from Australia to Samoa!
Image Credit: Samoa Observer