Aranui 5

M/V Aranui 5 is a dual passenger/cargo vessel that entered service on 12 December 2015 between Tahiti and the Marquesas Islands. With a homeport of Papeete, French Polynesia, the Aranui 5 replaced the Aranui 3 which entered service in 2003.

No Aranui 4 ever went into service, because the number four is regarded as unlucky in China, from which Wing Wong, founder of Compagnie Polynesienne de Transport Maritime (CPTM), the family business that operates the Aranui voyages, emigrated to Tahiti in the 1930s.

Aranui 5, like its predecessor, is registered as a passenger ship under the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), for international operation.

As well as carrying cargo to and from the six ports in the Marquesas Islands, Aranui 5 operates a passenger service and tourist cruise as part of its monthly 12-day itinerary; the ship also stops at the Rangiroa and Tuamotu atolls before returning to Tahiti.

Additional Aranui 5 trips operate to other islands in French Polynesia and beyond, including Rarotonga and the Cook Islands and once a year to Pitcairn Island.