Posted on: Saturday, August 21, 2004

Threat dropped to bar Marisco ship facility from federal bids

By Jim Dooley
Advertiser Staff Writer

Federal officials have dropped a threat to disqualify the Marisco ship repair facility at Barbers Point Deep Draft Harbor from bidding on government work, said Marisco president Fred Anawati.

The U.S. General Services Administration had threatened in May to "debar" Marisco and native Alaskan company Tanadgusix Corp. because of a legal dispute over use of a surplus U.S. Navy drydock at the Marisco repair facility.

Tanadgusix, or TDX Corp., acquired the World War II drydock from the government in 2001 and put it into use at the Marisco yard.

Marisco competitor Honolulu Shipyard complained to federal authorities that the drydock was supposed to have been moved to Alaska.

Several lawsuits have been filed, and federal lawmakers including Sen. Dan Inouye of Hawai'i and Rep. Don Young of Alaska have been trying to broker a settlement in Congress.

In May, GSA officials proposed debarring TDX and Marisco Ltd. because of complaints that TDX had misled the government about where the drydock would be used.

A review of the allegations by Joseph Neurauter, GSA Suspension and Debarment official, reversed that proposed action and dropped TDX's threatened debarment, said Anawati and TDX chief executive Ron Philemonoff.

"Basically this is what I expected," Anawati said yesterday. "We didn't do anything wrong. We're a responsible contractor."

Litigation over the drydock continues in federal court here and in Alaska.

Reach Jim Dooley at jdooley@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2447.