COMMENTARY
Pier capacity may be our next crisis
By Creighton W. Goldsmith
The Hawaiian archipelago is the most remote island chain in the world.
We lie on the Tropic of Cancer, 2,500 miles from the U.S. Mainland. Our lifelines are Matson, Horizon Lines, NYK Lines, Sause Brothers barges, ACT barges and Young Brothers, along with the tankers that supply crude oil to our refineries. Every drop of Hawai'i's fuel arrives on ships, and 97 percent of our food and consumables arrive on Honolulu's docks. If these lifelines are threatened or interrupted, Hawai'i's residents won't just be out of toilet paper and rice, we'll be out of food, fuel and electricity in less than a month.
Our federal and state governments, along with Hawai'i's carriers, have done an admirable job of protecting and caring for our maritime resources, but there's an insidious threat to our maritime security that can't readily be seen. What is that threat, you ask? It's our own success. It's the growth of Hawai'i's economy and the unprecedented building that's been going on, and the steady growth of our population.
How can growth be a problem? It's because the state is running out of pier space to hold the containers that carry Hawai'i's lifeblood. Honolulu Harbor has not gotten any bigger in the past 50 years, and the addition of Barbers Point Harbor did not and will not materially increase cargo capacity. In fact, Honolulu Harbor has been shrinking. At Piers 1 and 2, Hawai'i's international cargo docks, cargo-handling space decreased dramatically when the Honolulu Community Development Agency acquired land from the Foreign Trade Zone. This month, the sorely needed cruise-ship terminal will take away valuable Pier 2 warehouse and cargo space.
Since 2001, Matson and the other cargo carriers have seen 7 to 10 percent growth, and it is projected to go even higher as construction material continues to pour into the state. Matson and Horizon reported to the Department of Transportation that they will be out of cargo handling space in two years. Pier 1 users NYK, PM&O and ACT are already at maximum capacity. Sause Brothers was moved from Pier 1 to Barbers Point earlier this year.
Dock space is also at a critical breaking point with the addition of cruise ships and car carriers.
Soon, Pasha Lines will begin car-carrier service to the Islands and the inter-island ferry will come online in 2006. Honolulu Harbor has already seen days when it could hold no more ships.
What's the answer? There are many potential answers, but few that are likely to happen. Unimproved HCDA land could be returned to maritime use (that would cost nothing). The Navy could open Pearl Harbor to U.S. flag carriers Matson or Horizon (not likely). Sand Island could be expanded. A last-ditch and dramatically expensive plan would be to create a new deep-draft harbor in Ke'ehi Lagoon. The enormous cost of dredging the lagoon would require federal assistance.
Whatever the solution turns out to be, Gov. Linda Lingle needs to deal with the problem now or it we'll be faced with the maritime equivalent of the same problem we've got on our highways i complete gridlock.
Creighton W. Goldsmith is chief inspector for Customs and Border Protection in Honolulu. These comments are his own opinions and do not necessarily represent those of the federal agency.
