VESSELS of up to 220 metres are now able to visit Tonga, thanks to an upgrade of Queen Sālote International Wharf, a $70million project partially bankrolled by the Australian government.
The project is said to have turned Nuku’alofa Port (the nation’s only international port) into a modern, climate-resilient facility, boosting trade with Australia and the wider Pacific.
The upgrade is one of the largest infrastructure investments in Tonga’s history, delivered via a partnership between the Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific (AIFFP), the ADB, and the Tongan government.
Tonga’s economy relies on this single gateway for 95 per cent of imported goods.
Managed by engineering consultants Haskoning and built by McConnell Dowell, the project extended and strengthened key sections of the wharf.
The improvements allow vessels up to 220 metres in length, more than doubling cargo throughput and increasing annual container capacity to 45,000 TEU—a boon for container trade between Tonga, Australia, and other regional partners.
“Despite the challenges of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai eruption, Cyclones Tino and Harold, the pandemic, and supply chain disruptions, the project was completed on time and within budget,” said Haskoning business development director Australia, New Zealand and Pacific, David Perbey.
About 80 per cent of the workforce drawn from the community, including 11 per cent women.
The project also passed one million work hours without a lost time injury, and the team completed more than 3000 hours of skills training, giving long-term benefits to Tonga’s workforce.
“Delivering world-class infrastructure with the support of the local community has been incredibly rewarding,” said Fraser Wyllie, McConnell Dowell managing director New Zealand and the Pacific.
Sustainability was also a focus, with the project diverting 85 per cent of waste from landfill and 126 tonnes of steel and 11 tonnes of waste oil being recycled.
Some 2160 tonnes of concrete was reused for erosion protection reinforcement.
According to DFAT, Tonga remains one of the best performers in the Pacific in terms of progress against the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Agriculture is the leading productive sector.
Tonga's main trading partners are Singapore, New Zealand, the United States, Australia, Taiwan and China.
Most Tongan exports are agricultural produce while imports cover the full range of consumer and industrial goods.