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HOST Membership Meeting

June 15, 2006

Robin asked the new attendees to introduce themselves. Representative Ann Stevens introduced herself. Attendees generally introduced themselves.

Roots in 1800s Pacific whaling and trading interest in the Sandwich Islands . They are coming up on their Centennial Celebration.

Most people are aware of the WWII Legacy. During WWI they had about 25,000 workers. Today they have about 5,000 which is roughly equivalent to the beginning of WWII.

Hawaii is strategic to the largest maritime theatre. Over 100 million square miles. Over 50% of the world’s ocean surface. They have dry docks 1 – 4. which are WWII vintage and before. (Dry dock #1 built in 1913)

About 30% of their work is for quick turn around routine maintenance rather than the larger “project” work. This is the only shipyard west of the mainland that can do this essential work.

They are the largest civilian employer in Hawaii . Revenues to the State approximate $550 million dollars per year. Many of the employees are nearing retirement age. They are currently undergoing recruitment for the future. This week’s job fair drew about 500 people.

Gail Shon, Environmental Protection Specialist discussed the Shipyard Environmental Program.

One area of improvement is in the Transfer Operations. Everything from sewage, fuels, bilge fluids and waste oils is transferred. Improved hoses and deck watches have greatly reduced the number of incidents.

They have established a centralized program for buying, storing and distributing Hazardous Wastes. If they can show that a program will reduce the amount of Hazardous Waste, they can access special funding. This helps them to capitalize new equipment. Getting new equipment or retrofitting older equipment has conserved about 1.2 million gallons of water per year. They have also partnered with Hawaiian Electric to install new air conditioning systems that have saved money and reduced electrical demand on the grid.

They do a lot of training of their employees and contractors to keep them up on the latest environmental expectations. They also do Community Outreach.

Vessels naturally have marine growth buildup. They follow Best Management Practices developed by the navy. The first phase is an inspection. If cleaning is needed only approved equipment and certified personnel can conduct the work. They will not clean a vessel within a month of a planned dry-dock. If it is within that time envelope they will just do the work in dry-dock.

They are using hydraulically driven brushes that do not collect the growth cleaned from the hull. They are using soft bristles so as not to remove paint. Removing paint would be a water contamination. They use the lightest brush that can do the job but won’t remove the paint.

If there are periods when the dry docks are available some private vessels have been hauled out in Pearl . In many cases it is still cheaper to go to the mainland. Currently the USCGC Jarvis is in dry-dock.

Hurricane season begins June 1^st. The USCG Sector Planning Department, with the help of HOST, has updated the Plan in conjunction with updating the HOST SOP. This subcommittee had a broad base of input from varying sectors of the maritime community. State Harbors , Pilots, DLNR and Industry have all been contributors to this product. This Draft update will be reviewed by the HOST Advisory Committee and ultimately by the General Membership. We will be looking for your feedback in this process. There are six (6) phases to this plan. It begins with raising the preparatory levels the day Hurricane Season begins. As a hurricane approaches, the additional preparatory levels will kick in with time frames out from expected landfall.

This will be loaded onto the HOST Website under the “new” category. You can then review the document and send comments to him. It is also loaded on the USCG Website. <homeport.uscg.mil>. There is also a link from the HOST Website.

Mr. Weyman is the Director of the largest of the Hurricane watch Center in the

United States

. They are located up at the University of Hawaii , Manoa Campus.

There Area Of Interest is the Central Pacific. From Longitude 140 to the International Dateline. There area is approximately four times larger than the

United States

. They have distributed the Hurricane Safety Manual. It needs some updating but is still a valuable tool.

sustained winds greater than 74 miles per hour. You need warm water >76 degrees Fahrenheit. Wind and moisture from evaporation create a “heat engine” that is the Hurricane. The only difference between a Hurricane and a Typhoon is the International Dateline. West of the Dateline it becomes a Typhoon.

June, July and August (the peak) declining in September is the heart of the season. The historical “track” of the storms come in to Hawaii from all direction. Many people think that Kauai is most “at risk”. The fact is all the islands are at equal risk. He guarantees that a hurricane is going to hit Oahu .

They now have improved surveillance and forecasting. They now have microwave date from satellites which can “see” through clouds which often cover a hurricane. The U.S. Air Force Reserve provides the “storm chasers” which fly through the eye of the hurricane. They are available to respond to Hawaii .

They have 4 Doppler Radars in Hawaii . The one located on Molokai is the one that serves Oahu .

Hurricane Triple Threat includes Storm Surge and High Surf. Hawaii generally does not get high Storm Surge. Our problem is the High Winds and Wind waves on top of the surge. Wind waves can be as high as 80 to 100 feet. Winds can also cause Tornadoes. Third, Heavy Rains and Flooding. Development on Oahu actually has increased the flooding potentials. Iniki storm surge was only 3 to 4 feet. The surf on Kauai was 35 feet. The on set of surf can actually start more than a day in advance of the Hurricanes land fall.

Only about 10% of the people in Hawaii actually have a Hurricane Action Plan. Where you going to meet? Where is your shelter? What do we need in a shelter? How long will we have to depend on ourselves after the storm? Everyone should have at least 5 to 7 days worth of supplies to support themselves. What about your workers? A business needs to have an “action plan” if they intend to maintain any sort of operations.

It has archives and satellite imagery. Discusses “Preparedness”. A hand site to follow what is going on.

The overall trends since 1995 (except 1997) we have normal to lower numbers of hurricanes. Average season is 4 to 5 systems. We are currently estimating 2 to 3. The specific numbers are not as important as you may think. It only takes one that lands on your house to “have a bad day”. We need to be prepared on every level.

Marine Fire Fighting and Salvage Conference was held on the 22^nd at the Hawaii Oil Spill Response Center . Current updates are also on <homeport.uscg.mil> but it does require a “password”.

Today was the Change of Command Ceremony for Rear Admiral Manson Brown. He is being replaced by Captain Atkins, recently out of Washington D.C.

The USCG has announced that they have issued new regulations for Post Casualty Drug Testing, 46 CFR 4.03-1 and 46 CFR4.05-1. The changes include alcohol testing within 2 hours of a serious incident. No longer required after 8 hours. You can not drink within 8 hours of a “serious incident.” (Exxon Valdez) For Drugs the testing has gone from 24 to 36 hours.

Involves an injury to a crewmember, passenger, or other person which requires professional medical treatment beyond first aid, and, in the case of a person employed on board a vessel in commercial service, which renders the individual unfit to perform routine vessel duties;

Involves damage to property, as defined in 46 CFR 4.05-1, in excess of $100,000.;

Involves the actual or constructive total loss of any vessel subject to Coast Guard Inspection;

Involves the actual or constructive loss of any self-propelled vessel, not subject to inspection by the Coast Guard, of 100 gross tons or more;

Involves a discharge of oil of 10,000 gallons or more, into a navigable waterway;

Or, involves a release of a hazardous substance equal to or greater than its reportable quantity into the navigable waters of the

United States

, or into the environment of the

United States

, whether or not the release resulted from a marine casualty.

If a vessel can’t get to shore to conduct “testing” within the prescribed time frames, then the vessel must carry drug testing materials and have training on how to conduct testing. Vessels with a drug plan needs to be aware of these changes. Changes now include fishing vessels.