Cruise ships get Pearl Harbor care
By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer
The Tahitian Princess, flying the flag of Gibraltar, has sat in Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard's Dry Dock Four this week as civilian workers inspected parts and repainted its hull in what could turn out to be a new arrangement for the Navy in Hawai'i.
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The shipyard has dry-docked foreign-flagged warships, "but no foreign-flagged civilian vessels in recent memory," said shipyard spokesman Jason Holm.
Maintenance work was done on the screws of the Tahitian Princess at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard yesterday. Hawaii Shipyards Inc. arranged to use a Navy dry dock (above) to work on the Tahitian Princess and a sister ship, in what might develop into more business at the shipyard.
The 594-foot Tahitian Princess will pick up 700 new passengers on Monday and set sail back to Tahiti. It will be replaced in dry dock by its sister ship, the Pacific Princess, on May 19.
The arrival of the Tahitian Princess was the result of years of negotiations and arrangements by Bill Clifford, the president and CEO of Hawaii Shipyards Inc., who has been trying to figure out ways to keep his crews busy.
He primarily provides shipyard workers to repair Navy ships at Pearl Harbor "but we have only 12 Navy surface ships for this beautiful dry-dock facility," Clifford said. "How do we attract more ships to Hawai'i?"
About two years ago, Clifford began talking to the California-based Princess Cruise Lines — owner of the Tahitian Princess and Pacific Princess — to bring cruise-ship dry-dock work to Hawai'i that normally would go to ports such as Singapore.
And last year he booked space at the shipyard while Princess Cruise Lines arranged special Hawai'i cruises to coincide with the ships' normal dry-dock maintenance, Clifford said.
At the same time, Clifford said, he's been talking to other cruise lines for possible similar arrangements. "We're working all the cruise companies that we can," Clifford said.
Princess Cruise Lines officials were unavailable for comment yesterday afternoon.
Pearl Harbor shipyard officials haven't decided whether to accommodate any future foreign-flagged cruise ships after the Pacific Princess leaves, Holm said. But the key will be making sure that no Navy ships are displaced.
"It always will depend on the availability of the dry dock," Holm said. "Navy work obviously comes first. As far as whether there will be additional work of this nature, we're not sure yet."
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Clifford paid the shipyard a fee for its dry-dock services, which neither he nor the Navy would disclose. He then used his own civilian workers and hired other civilian crews to inspect parts such as the ship's shafts, bow thrusters and rudder — and perform other routine maintenance.
The 300 crew members continue to live aboard the Tahitian Princess while it's in dry dock, but aren't allowed to roam around the military base.
"Using a Navy facility for civilian, commercial work is not normal," Clifford said. "These are the first foreign-flagged cruise vessels, which I believe will be an opportunity for a new line of business."
The original 700 passengers boarded the Tahitian Princess in Tahiti and sailed to Hilo, then got off in Honolulu on Monday.
The 300 crew members continue to live aboard the Tahitian Princess while it's in dry dock, Clifford said.
Because they're prohibited from roaming Pearl Harbor unescorted, Clifford has arranged hourly shuttles to take the crew to places such as Waikiki.
Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8085.
