New Delhi: The Solomon Islands has issued a moratorium on all nations requesting to send in naval ships while it works on new processes for military vessels entering port. The announcement from the prime minister, Manasseh Sogavare, comes after it was revealed the US had been issued with a notice of the moratorium.
“On August 29, the United States received formal notification from the government of the Solomon Islands regarding a moratorium on all naval visits, pending updates in protocol procedures,” the US embassy in Canberra said in a statement on Tuesday.
It follows Honiara failing to respond to a request for a US Coast Guard ship to dock and refuel on Friday. The ship was diverted to Papua New Guinea. There had been a delay in processing the ship’s approval and it had already left Solomons waters when approval was communicated, Sogavare said.
The delay was primarily due to the appropriate information not being sent to his office on time, he said. The prime minister has used the incident as justification for the moratorium.
“To this end, we have requested our partners to give us time to review and put in place our new processes before sending further requests for military vessels to enter the country,” Sogavare said, as he welcomed a US navy hospital ship in Honiara on Tuesday evening.
“Once the new mechanism is in place, we will inform you all. We anticipate the new process to be smoother and timelier.” The US navy hospital ship Mercy docked in Honiara on Monday for a two-week mission.
“The US navy ship Mercy received diplomatic clearance before the moratorium was implemented. We will continue to closely monitor the situation,” the US embassy’s statement said. Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese plans to host his Solomons counterpart in the coming weeks as Australia seeks to firm up ties with the Pacific nation.
(Vinayak)