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M/V Luta finally arriving in Rota on Thurs.
The long-awaited arrival of the M/V Luta to the CNMI is finally happening this week.
Lt. Gov. Victor Hocog said the ship, a retrofitted passenger and cargo vessel, will be arriving on Rota tomorrow, Thursday.
Hocog said the ship, which originally came from Louisiana and last docked in Panama, should be very close to Saipan, somewhere near Pagan.
He added that M/V Luta also needed to stop by Marshall Islands to bring in one of the crew for medical attention, spending a day.
“It’s quite faster than we expected,” Hocog said regarding the last leg of the trip.
The arrival of M/V Luta has been pushed back for several months now since it was said to set sail last April due to certification requirements and modifications made to the ship.
Hocog said U.S Coast Guard requirements had to be followed.
“It’s not something that when you say, you’ll buy something, it’s going to be here,” Hocog said, “We had to follow a lot of regulations because the vessel is U.S.”
Hocog said they will have a Christening ceremony on Rota this Saturday where the M/V Luta will be home-ported and they are also planning to have an open house for the ship on Saipan.
“After that it’s ready to carry cargo and passengers,” Hocog said.
In September 2014, Japanese businessman Takahisa Yamamoto invested about $1.6 million in the retrofitted cargo and passenger ship that will bring passengers, agricultural goods, and other consumer items to and from Rota, Saipan, Tinian, the Northern Islands, and Guam.
Yamamoto, from Osaka, Japan, owns Luta Mermaid LLC, the main business of which is to operate M/V Luta.
The 150-foot-long, 500-ton cargo ship was in Louisiana to obtain a certificate of inspection from the U.S. Coast Guard. The ship can accommodate 18 passengers and can carry up to 28 20-foot containers.
