June - July 1999

 

Salutes

News Briefs

"Lights out" for temporary maritime commission

Marine Casualties

Port Directory

 

 

 

Salutes

Norton Lilly Hawaii Inc./Kerr Norton Marine announced the promotion of Anne V. Stevens to marine manager. She joined the company in 1996 after a 12-year career in the U.S. Coast Guard. A graduate of Springfield College and Coast Guard Officer Candidate School, Stevens is active in Honolulu’s maritime community, including the Hawaii Operational Safety Team (HOST), Hawaii Maritime Center’s job fair and the Aloha Boat Days celebrations where she crews on the Abner T. Longley fireboat.

Capt. Gilbert J. Kanazawa assumes command of the USCG Marine Safety Office in Honolulu on June 10, relieving Capt. Frank Whipple who has been assigned chief of the Coast Guard’s Marine Safety Division in Alameda, Calif.  Kanazawa is a 1976 graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. His tours of duty included assignments in Hawaii from 1983 to 1989. Most recently he was the Coast Guard’s advisor to the Panama Canal Commission.

William Chung, vice president for personnel and industrial relations at Hawaiian Tug & Barge and Young Brothers Ltd.,  also has assumed duties as vice president of maritime operations. He has been with the company for nearly nine years and takes over the maritime operations responsibilities of Bruce Mitchell who resigned to pursue personal career endeavors.

American Hawaii Cruises announced the promotions of Randy Burns to vice president of marine operations and Bill Anonsen to vice president of maritime affairs and training. Both joined the company in 1994. Burns was formerly director of engineering. Anonsen, formerly director of marine operations, will work with the state government and others in the marine industry for port improvements and other company interests and also will head the company’s personnel training programs.

Chevron Products Company in Hawaii named Brant Fish and Albert Chee Jr. to the positions of marketing manager and public affairs manager, respectively. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

News Briefs

Hawaii cruise ship construction gets federal backing

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MarAd) announced a loan guarantee of more than $1 billion to support the construction of two new cruise ships for American Classic Voyages subsidiary American Hawaii Cruises.

The company signed a contract in March with Litton Industries’ Ingalls Shipbuilding to build two 1,900-passenger vessels to operate exclusively in the Hawaiian Islands. It is the largest project ever financed by MarAd, and is the largest commercial shipbuilding project approved since enactment of President Clinton’s National Shipbuilding Initiative six years ago. The first ship is scheduled to go into Hawaiian service in 2003.

The loan guarantee is provided under Title XI of the Merchant Marine Act which enables businesses to secure loans in the private sector with repayment guaranteed by the federal government.

The two vessels will be the first large cruise ships to be built in the United States in 50 years. According to MarAd, this shipbuilding project will result in the creation of more than 2,000 new jobs and will help maintain a shipbuilding workforce available to meet defense needs when necessary.

Precious coral, bottomfish regs recommended

The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council will convene in Honolulu June 15-18 to consider recommendations regarding the harvest of precious corals and the addition of more than two dozen species to the list of bottomfish managed by the council.

Newly discovered gold coral beds in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are not yet being harvested, but harvesting restrictions are being recommended for Brooks Bank and French Frigate Shoals to avoid negative impact on the habitat of endangered monk seals that forage in those areas. Establishment of a minimum size for black corals also is being recommended.

Among its other business, the council also will review a proposal to add a variety of trevallies, groupers, emperors and snappers to the bottomfish species managed by the agency.

Lucky to live in America

A recent story in Fairplay Shipping News reported plans by the United Arab Emirates to impose the death penalty on tanker masters found guilty of pollution.

A proposed amendment to an existing UAE law could allow tanker masters to be executed if found guilty of willfully polluting the region’s coastal waters. The proposal  is receiving increased support among the region’s maritime community.

The UAE coastline suffers chronic oil pollution from releases from small tankers and barges involved in the huge illegal traffic of oil from Iraq, the report said, and fines don’t work. It is not yet known whether the law could also be used against masters found guilty of gross negligence.

New Star at Honolulu Harbor

Since re-locating the Star of Honolulu cruise operations to Pier 8 at Aloha Tower Marketplace in March, Paradise Cruise Ltd.  President Ron Howard says indicators show the vessel’s current annual revenue of $22 million could increase by as much as $500,000 a year.

Howard says the number of walk-up passengers has increased, there are more promotional opportunities with the marketplace and Hawaii Maritime Center, and the location is more attractive. Recent familiarization tours for meeting and incentive planners indicate the company could expect more group business in the coming years.
The 232-foot Star of Honolulu is the largest cruise ship of its kind in the Islands with a passenger capacity of 1,500 passengers. It offers daily sunset dinner cruises and an Oahu coastal cruise to Pearl Harbor and the Arizona Memorial. All of the vessel’s products and services have been re-designed with such improvements as customized china and table settings, new décor and a new “Spirit of Aloha” Hawaiian show.

 

 

 

 

 

“Lights out” for temporary maritime commission

The temporary Maritime Authority Commission, appointed by Governor Ben Cayetano last September, quietly sailed into the sunset with the close of the 1999 legislative session in April.

Legislation to extend the one-year term of the 15-member commission reportedly “fell through the cracks” as House Finance Chair Dwight Takamine and other lawmakers dealt with the last-minute rush to wrap up the session on time.

After getting off to a late start last year, the group did not have enough time to complete its mandate to submit a report and recommendations to the legislature by December 20. Commission appointments, were more than two months late, and the first meeting was not called until October 23. Regular meetings began in late November, less than a month before the report was due.

Efforts failed to pass legislation that would extend the report deadline to December 20, 1999, and extend the commission until the end of the 2000 session.

“I feel the issue is not dead, though the official extension was not given by Representative Takamine,” said Clint Taylor of Sea-Land Services, one of two maritime sector representatives on the commission. Taylor said Department of Transportation Director Kazu Hayashida indicated he would like to have a meeting of the commission to come up with a final report.

DOT representatives could not be reached to find out when such a meeting might take place.

Taylor feels one of the prime reasons for a maritime authority is to expedite construction of new harbor infrastructure, particularly more cruise ship facilities. He said the commission came very close to agreeing on recommendations and legislation to address the state’s maritime needs.

Bill Mustard, lobbyist for BOATS/HI Inc., an ocean industry trade association, said he expects maritime industry members to get together over the summer to draft legislation. “Look for a coalition of companies organizing to establish some sort of harbor development authority,” he said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marine Casualties

The following casualty information is provided by the USCG Marine Safety Office Honolulu.

3/27/99 PACIFIC OCEAN. 
The fishing vessel Seabird sunk in waters southeast of Johnson Atoll six days after flooding was detected in the fish hold.
 The crew attempted to dewater the vessel with the installed electrical bilge pumps. However, pumping was slowed by floating debris.  The captain called for help and two hours later, a Coast Guard C-130 dropped two pumps.  Within five hours, the fishing vessels Seahawk, Kilauea, Glory, and Victoria arrived on scene to provide equipment and assistance.  The dewatering went well for several hours until the portable pumps ran out of gas.  On the evening of March 21st, the crew deployed a liferaft and abandoned ship after the dewatering efforts stopped. As the crew waited onboard the Seahawk for salvage assistance to arrive, the vessel continued to take on water.  On March 26th, salvage assistance arrived too late to save the vessel.  The Seabird sank early the next morning.

3/30/99 MAALAEA, MAUI.
The tug American Islander was transitting off the coast of Maui with barge 82 and BLT in tow, waiting to commence dredging in Maalaea Harbor, when the captain discovered that the workboat BLT was missing.  Debris from the BLT was discovered in the vicinity, however, no one saw the vessel sink.  The cause of the sinking is unknown.

4/10/99  ANAPALAU POINT, KAUAI.
The fishing vessel Van Loi ran aground on the northeast side of Kauai near Anapalau Point. The master refloated the vessel and motored back out to sea approximately 3 nautical miles.  Upon inspection of the below deck spaces, the crew discovered uncontrollable flooding in the main fish hold and engine room.  The vessel’s engine failed after water reached a level above the top of the engine.  A Coast Guard helicopter hoisted 2 pumps to the vessel and a Coast Guard 24-foot rigid hull inflatable (RHI) deployed another pump to the vessel.  A Coast Guardsman transferred to the vessel and conducted dewatering operations for several hours.  During this time, the Van Loi slowly drifted towards shore.  The vessel’s crew and the Coast Guardsman were evacuated just prior to the vessel running aground a second time, approximately 600 yards off the coast of Kapaa, Kauai. Surf action set the vessel well on the reef.  By April 13, the vessel had broken into 3 sections from the pounding surf action.