ADVISORY BOARD MEETING
July 14, 2005
Kim Beasley Brad Rimell
Bob Heidrich John Regan
Chris Woolaway Ed Enos
Kimo Corstorphine Robin Bond
Captain Manson Brown LTJG Quincey Adams
Jeff Brennan Jake Asher
Captain Terry Rice (Ret.) Bill Anonsen
Jeff Conners LCDR Rick Raksnis
Randy Swindell
INTRODUCTIONS
Robin asked everyone to introduce themselves.
AGENDA ITEM #1 Call to Order
Robin called the meeting to order. A quorum is present.
AGENDA ITEM #2 Approval of the Minutes of last meeting.
Robin Bond asked if there were any proposed changes to the Minutes. Hearing none, the Minutes were passed by consensus.
AGENDA ITEM #3 Treasurer’s Report
Chris Woolaway reported that we have a total of $1,384.05 which is after spending funds to support Robin’s trip to the Harbor Safety Conference.
AGENDA ITEM #4 Next Membership Meeting Topics ( April 21, 2005 )
Robin asked if anyone had any comments on the last General Meeting. Discussion on the timeliness of the Pearl Harbor Shipyard public/private business efforts.
• Chris Woolaway suggested that we have a presentation on the installation of a salt water pipeline extending out to about 30 feet of depth from just adjacent to Honolulu Harbor . The pipeline will be used to provide water to help air condition some of the buildings downtown. David Rezachek, Associate Development Director of Honolulu Sea Water Air Conditioning Development LLC will be asked to give a presentation of the plans. Questions regarding the relevancy to Ocean Safety were raised. It was suggested that there may be impacts to navigation for Honolulu Harbor . The project is planned for the OHA site.
• Bill Anonsen is willing to give a briefing on Maritime Security Cruise Ship update. Essentially this is a report on the lessons learned from an NCL/security community exercise that was conducted recently. There was a consensus that this will be of general interest.
• Rick Raksnis said that there is a new Damage Control School that has just finished their first class. They may be willing to come and give us a presentation on their activities and curriculum.
• Terry asked about the progress on the oil pump-out infrastructure that is being developed. Chris pointed out that Public Service Announcements are being developed and it may be worthwhile to have a short presentation of the programs status and the PSA’s.
• Robin stated that we could show the video “Sharing the Bay”, a safety video developed for San Francisco .
AGENDA ITEM #5 Pending HOST Safety Issues – We have not yet finished the update on the SOP on VHF Comms.
• Safety At Sea Subcommittee – Rick Shema and Susan are involved in the TransPac Race so we have no dates set for seminars for the rest of the year. We would like to have one in the Waianae before the end of the year.
• Kawaihae Harbor Tug and Barge Safety – Bill Anonsen announced that the State Administration has started to look at the issue. Barry Fukunaga of State Harbors appears to be taking the lead in trying to find a resolution to the congestion in the commercial harbor. It may be appropriate for HOST to send a letter to both DLNR and State DOT to ask for a follow up to our previous letter. Bill volunteered to help Robin draft a letter. Something may move on this by the end of the year.
• SOP 7-98 Multiple Cruise Vessels Visiting Offshore Port Anchorages – Jeff Conners asked whether we’ve really resolved one of the pressing harbor safety issues, coordination of arrivals at neighbor islands. Kim Beasley is heading a subcommittee to revisit this. Discussion followed that there are really four separate issues that HOST needs to address. They are:
• Centralized Scheduling – DOT Harbors
• Cruise Ship anchorages – DLNR
• SOP 7-98 Review including tender training and tender boat traffic control – DLNR
• Neighbor Island arrival coordination at Neighbor Island -DOT and users
Kim pointed out that we actually have two vehicles with which to consider these issues. Both the Centralized Scheduling and Neighbor Island arrival coordination issues are State DOT issues and HOST owes comment back to State DOT regarding the Legislative Resolution passed last year. The issue of tender vessel operator training and boat traffic control, as well as cruise ship anchorages could be addressed by our review of SOP 7-98.
These two vehicles could be used to address all four issues and direct the product to the agencies involved. There was general agreement to this approach
• Clean Water Act/State water quality subcommittee – There is some good progress on this that was a product of discussion regarding the NCL cruise ships. There is a new company that can clean hulls using a vacuum system. This is being monitored by the Department of Health. That doesn’t address smaller users and the fresh water issues. It is getting better but it is not resolved. This is really being worked out within protocols between State Agencies. We will continue to monitor this as these protocols shake out.
• Tug Assistance – Ed Enos discussed SOP 3-97, which was the product of one year’s effort on behalf of HOST. The pilots are preparing a proposal and the cruise association is preparing a presentation. Both are being sent to Barry Fukunaga. HOST has not being included in discussions and the HOST subcommittee appears to be stalled.
AGENDA ITEM #6 – New Business
Casitas Grounding. Jake Asher (NOAA) and Rick Raksnis. Not much news is available on the cause due to the investigation. The good news is that as of today most of the fuel and cargo have been removed. Some very good equipment is being sent to the area to attempt to remove the vessel. Hopefully that will come off well. Ultimately some sort of assessment of the damage to the environment will have to be conducted. A determination may have to be made as to whether any restitution efforts can be conducted.
Chris Woolaway asked if there were any known implications to the multi-agency efforts for the northwest Hawaiian Islands efforts for the rest of the year. The USCG assets are still available for the work for which they were scheduled to do. Manpower and funding for that research effort should still be available. Other issues such as the funding that was available for the chartering of the Casitas and the net removal project are still unknown.
Bill Anonsen announced that HB 85 was vetoed by the Governor due to a “technical” error. Someone transposed the words East to West. That will mean that we need to start over on the transfer of Piers 1 and 2 back to State Harbors. However, for now, State Harbors will control the area.
AGENDA ITEM #7 – USCG Concerns
Covered earlier.
AGENDA ITEM #8 State of Hawaii Concerns
No one from State was present.
AGENDA ITEM #9 Coast Guard Auxiliary
The USCG has given the Auxiliary three “Safe boats”. There will be a blessing and inaugural celebration on August 20th, 10:00 am , at Sand Island USCG Base. The Admiral will speak and the public is invited.
AGENDA ITEM #10 Announcements
• Bob Heidrich announced that the TransPac Yacht race has started and the first boats should start to arrive around the 23rd or 24th of this month. The TransPac uses a staggered start in an effort to have the yachts arrive around the same time. Tahiti class vessels will be at “F” pier. Larger vessels such as Cal 40’s will be docket at the Hawaii and Waikiki Yacht Clubs. Deep draft vessels will be located at Honolulu Harbor . There are approximately 73 vessels in the race. This is the 100th running of this race.
• September 17th will be the 20th Anniversary of the “Get the Drift and Bag It”. There will be some press releases on this effort.
• Bill Anonsen has said that the State Law Enforcement Coalition (SLEC), which is comprised of 6 State law enforcement agencies, is working to produce a Strategic Plan for coordinating security response efforts. Possibly a report on this could be given at the HOST General meeting – two meetings from now.
Robin asked if there were any further announcements. Hearing none he adjourned the meeting.
NEXT MEETINGS
Advisory Board Meeting:
August 11th, 3:00 pm , Hawaii Yacht Club located in the Ala Wai Yacht Harbor .
General Membership Meeting:
August 25th, 2:00 pm , Honolulu Community College Marine Training Facility.