His Majesty King Tupou VI has named a new tugboat, Fanga-‘i-lifuka, this morning in Nuku‘alofa.
The 4,500-horsepower twin propeller provided under Japan’s Non-Project Grant Aid (NPGA) projects was worth 1 billion Japanese Yen (TOP$15 million).
A statement said this was the largest amount of funding Japan has provided for an NPGA project to date.
It demonstrated the level of commitment Japan undertakes to increase Tonga’s maritime capacity, it said.
The Fanga-‘I-Lifuka is currently the largest tugboat in Ports Authority Tonga’s towboat fleet.
Five Japanese engineers are currently in Tonga to provide operation training for designated staff of Ports Authority Tonga.
The Ambassador of Japan to Tonga, H.E. Mr. Inagaki Hisao, gratefully handed over the new tugboat to the people of Tonga in the presence of His Majesty King Tupou VI during an official event in Tongatapu today.
“ It was a festive occasion as the Ambassador highlighted that the friendship between Japan and Tonga was founded upon the warm relations between the Imperial Household of Japan and the Royal Family of Tonga, and it continues to flourish under His Majesty King Tupou VI’s benevolence”.
Former Fanga-’i-Lifuka
The king’s naming the new boat brought back to life an incident in 1961 when a hurricane sunk the government’s then-inter-island vessel Fanga-’i-Lifuka.
Reports said that after the Queen’s birthday celebrations on 13 March 1960, she told her matāpule Lutui: “Ka ‘i ai ha fo’i fuatau pea mou manatu’i mai au he kuo u uitou”.
This would be translated into English as: “If you have any yams, please remember me, for I am a widow.”
It was made as part of the fakalaunoa practice, which involves jokey remarks made by royalty when meeting their people.
The people of Ha’apai understood it was their cultural duty to provide the yams for the Queen. On Her Majesty’s birthday the following year, they travelled to Nuku’alofa in the then Fanga-‘i-Lifuka and a barge, bringing with them yams and other produce.
On their return to Ha’apai the boat was caught in a cyclone before it sank near Ha’apai’s ‘Otumu’omu’a islands. All passengers and crew survived the tragedy.
The Queen composed the song in memory of the dreadful incident. It was titled Hiva Afā ‘a Vaea (Vaea’s Hurricane Song), after Noble Baron Vaea, the father of current Lord Vaea. Noble Baron Vaea was a son of Queen Sālote’s half-brother Vīlai. He was the Governor of Ha’apai at the time and he was one of those people from the islands who travelled to Tonga and returned in the Fanga-‘i-Lifuka before it sank.
The version of the lyrics is copied verbatim below in Tongan and in English.
Hiva Afā ‘a Vaea
The wind veered westerly
Wrathful was the storm
Overwhelming the Kolongatata
Converging upon Faka’oskato
Alas, Kao mo Tofua
My kie tāua has blown away
The Fanga-‘i-Lifuka has fled
The rock of Loupua is forsaken
Screaming and calling were heard
The Fangafalikipako awoke
Women of Ha’apai, harken
to the nose flute’s call in the night
And broadcast to the distance
That is my cherished salusalu
Embrace the command lest it falls wasted
To please the Sia ko Veiongo
If the Futu Ko Vuna questions it
Or the Taungapeka asks about it
Then tell them, Tautavale
I am the talatā
Fishing bird of Uoleva
My only food is pandanus
I drink of the dew, eat of the sunshine
My bed, the foam of the wave
Oh Lēlea, I send you my love
And to you, Sia ko Kafoa and ‘Alo’italau
How the ironwood tree Tu’uakitau weeps
For our mutual helplessness
When the mask breaks, we turn to Manono
Let the calabash shell spilling at Vaha’akolo
Send forth its perfume to the heart
Increasing ever your love for the motto
Be it hard or be it easy
Ha’apai stand in your legendary daring
Tongan version
Hiva Afā ‘a Vaea
Ne sika-a-hema fakahihifo
Louloua'a e Matangi to
Kolongatata ke fakauo
'O falala 'i faka'osikato
Ise'isa e Kao mo Tofua
Vilingia hoto kie tāua
Kuo hola e Fanga-'i-Lifuka
Tounoa e maka ko Loupua
Pā ‘a e ui moe sīle’o
Ofo a e Fanga falikipako
Fine Ha'apai ke fakafanongo
Ui 'a e fangufangu 'i he pō
Fakamafola ki he vahamama'o
Ko si'oto salusalu manako
Ke talia 'a e angi na'a to
Ke me'ite Sia ko Veiongo
Ka fehu'i 'e he Futu ko Vuna
Pe 'ekea 'e he Taungapeka
Tautavale pe i ke tala
He ko au e ko e talatā
Ko e Manusiu o Uoleva
ko si'eku me'akai ko e fā
'Ou inu hahau mo kai la'ā
Mohenga 'ihe fisi 'oe naua
Tau
Lēlea e hoku 'ofa atu
Sia ko Kafoa 'Alo 'i Talau
Tangi 'a e Toa Tu'uakitau
He kuo fe'ofa'aki 'a kakau
Fasi pe sila tuku ki Manono
He fangumalingi 'i Vaha'akolo
Ke Ngangatu ‘o 'alaha 'i he loto
Kae tupulaki 'ofa 'i he Moto
Ka faingata'a pe faingofua
Ha'apai tu'u ho'o kāaimu'a
