Cruise talks charting cleaner seas
By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer
Cruise-line representatives hope to return to Hawai'i this month and offer state officials their version of new environmental guidelines for cruise ships in the Islands.
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The first formal guidelines would affect an industry that expects to see 100,000 more passengers arriving in Hawai'i this year. Even with last year's bankruptcy of American Classic Voyages, which had two cruise ships here, eight companies plan to visit the Islands more frequently and bring 250,000 passengers, said John Hansen, president of the Northwest Cruise Ship Association in Vancouver, British Columbia.
While only one interisland cruise ship is based in Hawai'i, Honolulu is a port call for many other ocean liners such as the Statendam.
At the same time, cruise lines want to avoid being regulated by any new state laws and hope to work with state officials to craft a "memorandum of understanding" similar to those the industry has with Florida and California officials.
"We think an MOU is a more flexible instrument to deal with," Hansen said. "A state bill is certainly another option. We think this would be more flexible, and we'd like to carry the discussion through to see if this kind of agreement meets the needs of the state. ... There can be a lot of enforcement teeth in an MOU."
The Florida memorandum of understanding, however, relies on voluntary compliance by the cruise lines.
For Hawai'i, perhaps the biggest issue in developing a memorandum is a proposal by the state Department of Health that cruise ships' treated sewage be discharged beyond 12 miles from shore, and no less than four miles from the nearest land.
"That's probably going to be logistically, functionally difficult to do," said Gary Gill, deputy director of the department. "But they can respond to that request."
International law allows cruise ships to dispose of treated sewage within three miles of land and between the Hawaiian islands, Hansen said.
Hansen said he doesn't believe that a state law could supersede international law but said any compromise could be written into a memorandum of understanding.
"That's certainly an area that we need to discuss further with the Department of Health," Hansen said.
Industry officials first need to reach agreement on their counter-proposals. Then they hope to return the week of March 25 for a third round of talks, Hansen said.
"The ball's in our court," he said. "It will be our response, really, to the ideas that were tabled last time."
Hansen hopes to have a memorandum of agreement within the next several months.
The Norwegian Star is the only interisland cruise ship based in Hawai'i, after the bankruptcy and shutdown of American Classic Voyages in October. But Norwegian Cruise Line also plans to keep its Norwegian Wind here for most of the year, Hansen said, and eight companies expect to send 18 or 19 ships through Hawaiian waters.
"One and a half ships will be based in Hawai'i," Hansen said. "But some of the visiting ships will be bigger and paying more visits."
This session, legislators also introduced House and Senate bills based on an Alaska state law that regulates cruise lines, said Chris Chung, program coordinator for the office of planning, Hawai'i coastal zone management. The bills were introduced "to put people's feet to the fire," Chung said, but would need to focus on Hawai'i's situation.
"Are Alaska's standards appropriate for us?" Chung said. "We need to look at that. There are different currents and tidal processes in Hawai'i versus Florida or Alaska. Whether you're trying to establish (a discharge limit of) two miles or four miles or six miles or 12 miles, we don't want this stuff washing back onto shore."
The Alaska laws focus on thousands of intercoastal islands and don't apply to Hawai'i's "unique geography," Hansen said. "Whatever we do in Hawai'i needs to be tuned to Hawai'i, not simply come from somewhere else."
Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8085.
