Improvements worth millions still may not help large ships navigate Nawiliwili Yes, Gov. Ben Cayetano did come through on his promise to spend millions of taxpayer dollars to improve Nawiliwili Harbor over the next two years. No, that won’t mean
Improvements worth millions still may not help large ships navigate Nawiliwili
Yes, Gov. Ben Cayetano did come through on his promise to spend millions of taxpayer dollars to improve Nawiliwili Harbor over the next two years.
No, that won’t mean an easier voyage around the breakwater and jetty for the new edition of nearly 1,000-foot-long cruise ships, one of which is scheduled to begin weekly service to the harbor by December of this year.
There is $5.6 million for design and construction of pier improvements to the harbor for fiscal year 2002, which begins Sunday, July 1 this year, including $900,000 for design and construction of a passenger shelter at pier 3, according to Marilyn Kali, spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation.
But a passenger shelter won’t do a bit of good if the passengers it is designed to protect can’t make it into the harbor because of safety concerns for the newer floating cities up to 12 stories tall, over 950 feet long and carrying around 3,400 passengers and crew.
Twice this year, the Celebrity Cruise Line’s Infinity, a brand new, 964-foot-long vessel, was denied entry into Nawiliwili, and also didn’t make an attempt to access Kaua’i via Port Allen.
At Nawiliwili, tugboat pilots, concerned about their safety, that of the ship and its crew and passengers, and out of fear that the ship might run aground and block other vessels’ access to the harbor, refused to help bring the Infinity in.
The S-shaped turns the large ship must make, with an estimated 100 maneuvers one way in or out of Nawiliwili, make it a difficult transition, especially when there are high winds.
Last week, pilots, U.S. Coast Guard, cruise industry, and state Department of Transportation Harbors Division representatives met, and devised a plan where the pilots will ride on the new cruise ships this summer, getting a feel for the larger vessels and their modern propulsion systems designed to make it easier for them to maneuver in and out of ports like Nawiliwili.
The Royal Caribbean Mercury has Kaua’i stops slated in September and October, and the Norwegian Cruise Line’s Star, which beginning in December will be home-ported in Honolulu, are both over 960 feet long.
A decision won’t be made until later this year whether or not to stop at Nawiliwili, though the respective Web sites where bookings for the cruises may be made list Kaua’i as a stop for both ships.
Rich Jasper, owner of JJ’s Broiler and Anchor Cove Shopping Center in Nawiliwili, says the island stands to lose the equivalent of nearly 10 percent of its annual visitor arrival number if the Star doesn’t stop on the island.
With a 2,400-passenger capacity and a schedule to visit Kaua’i each Saturday all year long beginning Saturday, Dec. 22, the Star over a year’s time could bring nearly 125,000 visitors to the island, Jasper calculates.
That doesn’t even figure in the 1,000-member crew, who would get off the ship to shop as well.
The good news is that Kaua’i consistently is at the top of favorite Hawaiian islands on Norwegian Cruise Line exit surveys, and has listed either Nawiliwili or Port Allen as its Kaua’i port of call beginning in December, Jasper said.
“They feel they need Kaua’i to be a stop on their four-island itinerary. Kaua’i’s got it all, and they want to come to Kaua’i,” Jasper said about Norwegian.
“That’s the one that we really don’t want to let get away,” he said of the Star. “If it has to go to Port Allen, that’s great. We just don’t want to lose the Norwegian Star on the island.”
In the fall, there are 26 cruise ships slated to call on Nawiliwili, and only four are over 950 feet long, he said. So, as a percentage, four of 26 is not that bad. But one of those four is the Star.
Kali said the next year’s fiscal budget also includes $95,000 for offsite improvements to Nawiliwili Harbor’s water system, and $75,000 for design and $1 million for construction of fender improvements at the pier where the cruise ships dock.
Business Editor Paul C. Curtis can be reached at mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).
