People

TRANSPORTATION

Small boats on the sea and fragile vehicles on unsealed tracks are the main forms of transport. The tiny, fragmented size of the settlements means walking is often the most reliable way of getting between points.In the early 1980s an amphibian aircraft on charter from Tuvalu provided a brief air service but there are no current plans to reintroduce an air link. Islanders have opposed the construction of an airstrip despite recommendations from visiting missions and delegations.

There are no seaports. Landing conditions at the main settlements of all three atolls require occasional blasting of the coral to provide adequate small boat channels through the reef. Larger vessels normally anchor about 360 m from the channel entrances to load and off-load cargo.

Tokelau continues to rely heavily on chartered shipping links for all cargo and passenger transport and over the last decade a number of Pacific shipping companies including the Nauru Pacific Line, the Warner Pacific Line of Tonga and Interports Shipping of Suva have entered into contracts with the New Zealand Government to service the atoll groups. The Western Samoa Shipping Co. barge is sometimes chartered to transport building materials and supplies as well as the occasional use of the government of Tuvalu's vessel, the Nivaga II.

An inter-atoll vessel, construction of which was funded by New Zealand aid, began operation in 1992. The vessel, Tutolu, a 57 ton catamaran, carries a crew of eight and has space for 50 passengers.