Cruise-ship terminal could open in two years
By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer
A long-awaited cruise-ship passenger terminal at Honolulu Harbor could be built and operating by summer 2003, according to the state Department of Transportation, which for several years has been coping with financing and design plans for the project.
The $20 million facility, still in the design phase, will be along Pier 2 behind the Coast Guard headquarters on Ala Moana and adjacent to the Foreign Trade Zone. Money is in the state budget for fiscal years 2001-02 and 2002-03.
The terminal would be capable of accommodating one mega-sized ship or two smaller ships as long as 840 feet each, and would help meet increasing demand from an industry quickly becoming a larger part of Hawai'i tourism.
In the next three years, Hawai'i's cruise-line industry will roughly double in size. Last year, cruise visitors to the state totaled 150,000.
Transportation Department officials yesterday shared their plans with the Hawai'i Community Development Authority, which owns the land under the proposed site.
Under a tentative timetable, the department expects construction to begin in April and be complete in mid-2003, when an estimated 8,000 cruise passengers are expected to visit each day.
The terminal would be used primarily for home-ported ships that require passengers to embark and disembark. The facility will include areas for ground transportation, parking, customs, luggage processing and ship servicing.
The terminal will be built along 1,750 feet of dock at Pier 2, which has been used primarily for cargo ships and barges.
Andrew Gomes can be reached by phone at 525-8065, or by e-mail at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com.
