Fly Warrior arrives in Western tomorrow

By MALUM NALU

The last of three ships procured by Ok Tedi Development Foundation (OTDF) on behalf of the Ok Tedi river communities, mv Fly Warrior, will be welcomed into Western province at the weekend.

 mv Fly Warrior arrives at Sturt Island along the Fly River tomorrow and further upstream at Obo on Sunday.

Provincial leaders including Governor Ati Wobiro, community leaders, and management of OTDF, Ok Tedi Mining Ltd, and PNG Sustainable Development Program are expected to be at the welcoming at Sturt Island and Obo.

mv Fly Warrior joins its two sister ships,  mv Fly Hope and mv Fly Explorer,  in generating long-term development benefits for the 156 villages that currently benefit from the Ok Tedi Community Mine Continuation Agreement (CMCA).

She was launched from the Sarawak Slipways yard in Malaysia on September 22, 2012.

The mv Fly Warrior before it was launched from the Saraway Slipways in Malaysia.-Picture courtesy of OTDF

The 65m bulk cargo/fuel carrier will be on dry hire to OTML and will be generating a minimum 8% return per annum on a capital investment of US$8 million.

The vessel was designed by Shiptech in Singapore then constructed by Sarawak Slipways and will be operated by V Ships, the world’s largest shipping fleet manager.

 mv Fly Warrior will primarily service OTML’s operational requirements (carrying up to 72 containers and or 1.2 million litres of fuel) out of Port Moresby but has the capacity to call into Australia when required.