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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Saturday, April 21, 2001



Kaua'i harbor obstacle for big cruise ships

By Michele Kayal
Advertiser Staff Writer

A new generation of larger, more modern cruise ships could be barred from Kaua'i's main harbor, threatening the island's future visitor business and worrying tourism executives that they will be left out of the cruise boom headed for Hawai'i.

Celebrity Cruise Lines' 965-foot, 91,000-ton Infinity, the largest ship ever to visit Hawai'i and one of the industry's new "Panamax" vessels — ships bigger than three football fields and just able to squeeze through the Panama Canal — was turned away from Nawiliwili harbor twice in recent weeks by harbor pilots who said they could not safely maneuver such a long vessel through the harbor's S-shaped entrance. The ships extended their stays in other ports.

"The harbor was designed for 650-foot ships and these ships are 965 feet long," said David Lyman, president of the Hawai'i Pilots Association, which represents the nine independent contractors who guide all the ships in the state to port. "Many of the pilots feel that it's somewhat risky to take those ships in and out of that tiny harbor under its present configuration. You gotta make a left turn, then a right turn, and then approach the dock."

Three more vessels of Infinity's size are due in Hawai'i this year, including Norwegian Cruise Line's Star, which will make Hawai'i its permanent home and will sail the Islands once a week. Whether the pilots and the industry can find a way to accommodate these ships and the gargantuan vessels likely to follow in coming years will determine whether Kaua'i reaps the benefit of a statewide cruise trade estimated to hit $1.6 billion by 2020.

"I'd hate to have all the other islands have a chance at that business and Kaua'i be left out," said Kaua'i Visitors Bureau executive director Sue Kanoho. Besides the immediate impact on retail and other sales, Kanoho said, cruise ships help cultivate visitors who will later return by air for longer stays. "People will feel an impact. While other islands are growing, we'll be somewhat held back."

The state Department of Transportation will meet with pilots, cruise line executives, the Coast Guard and the Army Corps of Engineers sometime in the next two weeks, said department spokeswoman Marilyn Kali, to see whether the issue can be resolved.

Lyman said even though the harbor was designed for 650-foot ships, they've been allowing ships up to 920 feet.

"We've had 720-foot container ships in there," he said. "We've had passenger ships up to 920 feet. But a cutoff point has to be reached, and for now that's 920 feet."

Cruise executives say they have demonstrated with simulators that the maneuvers can be done, and that though the ships are large, they are also highly advanced, with special propulsion systems that allow them to take on tight angles like the ones presented in Kaua'i.

Carnival Cruise Lines, the largest in the world, is scheduled to bring its new, 960-foot Spirit to Hawai'i in October.

"We didn't anticipate any problems," said Gordon Buck, Carnival's director of port operations. "It's too late now to take a different ship in. All the other itineraries and all the other plans and positioning of the ships and everything is done. If we can't get into one port now we'd have to come up with an alternative port or bypass that port."

Representatives of Celebrity and its sister line Royal Caribbean could not be reached for comment. Royal Caribbean is scheduled to bring its 961-foot Radiance of the Seas to Hawai'i in October.

Kaua'i's Port Allen, a potential alternative harbor for cruise ships, poses several problems, according to Colin Veitch, Norwegian Cruise Line's chief executive, and others. Cruise ships cannot dock at Port Allen, requiring the passengers to be brought to shore on small tender craft. When the weather is bad, or the wind is up, they said, that operation is impossible, forcing the ships to go elsewhere besides Kaua'i.

"And it's not simply NCL," Veitch said. "It would be all of this class of new ships which are being built for longer distance cruising, the more exotic destinations, such as Hawai'i, that won't be able to call in Kaua'i. And that would be a real shame because from a passenger's standpoint Kaua'i is a very attractive experience."

Also, large buses are not allowed at Port Allen, Kanoho said, making it difficult to get cruise passengers to their island activities.

"You have to shuttle people in 25 passenger vans," she said. "Do you know how long it's going to take with 25 passenger vans to empty a 3,000-person ship?... The Port Allen thing is a real challenge."