Environmentalist, Suzanne Case, who also happens to be the Chairperson for the DLNR, is being asked by some of Hawaii's harbor residents, and nearby high-end tourist destination representatives, to resolve the oily mess that is the sunken vessel out in front of the glamorous Prince Waikiki Hotel. So far, DLNR response has been slow and mostly ineffective. The vessel has been sitting on the bottom of the Ala Wai for more than a week. Mop-up crews come by, from time to time, to reduce the amount of oil in the water, but the effort has been only minimally effective, as a growing number of residents and tourists in the area continue to complain about noxious fumes, especially at night.
Exposure to noxious fumes from oil spills can, over time, lead to serious health issues for some.
Sinkings around the Ala Wai harbor are several and viewable anytime. Besides the oil-leaking wreck described above, and the Navatek II just a hundred yards away, there's a catamaran that's resting on its side, on the bottom, over on the 800-row pier. It's been there for months. We've heard of no current plan to remove this wreck anytime soon.
Just a short distance away from the sunken vessel that's leaking oil, the Skye, or Navatek II, an abandoned 82', 149 passenger tourist cruise boat, remains stranded on the bottom, held there by a sunken pontoon, now filled with mud. We're told it's filled with mud because of having been allowed to sit on the bottom for so long. As a result, the State is having a difficult time re-floating or lifting the vessel from the water.
Big Questions Remain Unanswered
Who authorized the mooring of the derelict 82', 149 passenger Navatek II in the Ala Wai's public recreational boat harbor? Why was a recreational harbor, like the Ala Wai, directly across from the Waikiki Yacht Club, chosen as a final destination? The harbormaster claims not to know, and that he had nothing to do with it. To date, no one else from DoBOR, or the DLNR is stepping forward to claim the booby prize.
Secondly, the Navatek II had been listing to one side for weeks on end, a sure sign that it was sinking, In fact, the State hired a contractor to come in, at one point, and pump the leaking pontoon out, re-righting the craft temporarily. The latter would have been a good time to move it, but there was no followed up. Shortly after, the ship then sank into the mud and the leaking pontoon began taking on the black, gooey muck characteristic of the Ala Wai bottom. With a pontoon now full of mud, it was no longer possible to re-float the vessel. A crane was then called in to attempt lifting the boat from the water and onto the old Ala Wai Marine property right across from the Prince Waikiki. As of this writing, the crane idea is not working, but, when -- or if -- it it does, and the ship sits comfortably on dry land, in full sight of the busy Ala Moana Boulevard, a new meaning for the "Gateway to Waikiki" will have been established.
Senator Sharon Moriwaki envisions the Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor as the "Gateway to Waikiki". What better tribute to State Agency incompetence, at the very Gateway to Waikiki, than the wreck of the Navatek II.
Those who know DoBOR are busily taking wagers that the cruise ship, once removed from the water, will remain up on the Ala Wai Marine property for a very long time to come and will establish itself as a kind of landmark, a monument to the ongoing bungling at Ed Underwood's DoBOR and Suzanne Case's DLNR.
Noxious oil pouring from one wreck, a huge, derelict tourist boat sunk nearby, and the remains of a sunken vessel on the bottom of the 800 pier and the only hope for remediation lies with a State agency that can hardly manage its own affairs, much less those of the public ocean recreation community.
On another, but not unrelated, topic . . .
In a previous article we cited Lanai's Manele Bay privatization attempt by misguided legislators not paying attention to the will of the people. Below, we ask that you add your name to the growing number of residents who oppose the act of privatization of public lands and assets.