The Lutheran Shipping Engineering yard in Madang is filled with anchored ships that are slowly rusting away.
MV Rita has been sitting in Madang for months. Engines and ship body parts are sitting in the workshops.
But the Morobe Governor and Lutheran church elder, Kelly Naru, says the state of Lutheran shipping isn’t beyond saving. With the government’s help it can recover.
Lutheran ships, MV Wewak and Maneba, are now sitting next to Negada. While MV Rita is undergoing maintenance that has taken months to complete, it has resulted in the ship rusting.
The recent Lutheran Synod was also marred by transportation difficulty.
Passengers waiting to board a Lutheran vessel remained stranded on the main wharf for days. Some remained camped at the Wharf while others have since returned home and some braved the open seas on Banana boats to reach the Synod on Karkar Island.
The company since has come under immense pressure to stay afloat since mid last year. Its Chief Executive Officer, Agua Nombri, was taken to court over allegations of mismanagement and corruption.
