A scene from below decks on the FSM-flagged Purse Seiner Mathawmarfach during a tuna transshipment operation in Majuro port. Photo: Hilary Hosia.
The most tuna transshipments since January 2024 happened last month in Majuro, with 28 purse seiners moving their tuna catches through Port Majuro.
But the even better news is that the first week of June may have set a record with 24 transshipments, nearly as many as the monthly totals for April and May this year.
The 28 transshipments last month is the most since January 2024, when the Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority’s Oceanic Division recorded 41 transshipments.
The fact that MIMRA monitored 24 transshipments in just the first week of this month indicates a sizable uptick in the transshipment business that harkens back to the pre-Covid period when Majuro averaged 30-35 transshipments per month.
The 28 transshipments last month brings the five-month total to 85, a monthly average of 17.
The MIMRA statistics show that 27 of the tuna transfers were from purse seiners to carrier vessels anchored in Majuro’s lagoon. One was split between unloading into freezer containers on shore and transshipping in the lagoon.
Nauru- and Taiwan-flagged purse seiners tied for the most transshipments, with nine each. They were followed by FSM-flagged vessels with five. Marshall Islands registered vessels had four transshipments and Tuvalu one.
