Coast Guard seeks safe ocean zone for vessels

The Coast Guard wants to establish a vessel-staging area about a half-mile off Oahu’s South Shore, where ships could ride out tsunami warnings safely in deep water.

Commercial ships would assemble off Keehi Lagoon, while recreational boats would stage to the east. The zones would be separated by a mile-wide buffer zone.

The entire area would run from the east end of Hono­lulu Airport’s Reef Runway to the Diamond Head lighthouse, in waters about 300 feet deep.

Bill Kruse, 78, lives aboard his boat, the Patsy Jean, docked in the Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor. He said he favors the staging proposal in the hopes that it will create an orderly system of evacuation.

After living on the water for the better part of 45 years, Kruse said inexperienced boaters often make harbor evacuations difficult.

"So few people actually use their boats here and have really the experience of handling the boats. In fact, I think once somebody did bump somebody," said Kruse.

Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Scott Whaley, who devised the plan, said that following a public comment period, the staging plan could go into effect in July or August.

Under the proposal, a tsunami warning would activate the Coast Guard to ensure commercial and recreational vessels move to and stay in separate staging areas.

There has been a "bunching of ships" off Hono­lulu Harbor during past tsunami evacuations, said Whaley, who is waterways management division chief for the Coast Guard. "Boaters were impatient" and did not follow instructions for exiting properly.

"It could be catastrophic," he said, noting if a cargo ship and a cruise ship tried to leave the harbor at the same time, there could be a huge collision.

"If the collision happened at the mouth of the harbor, it would block off the harbor," Whaley said. That would keep other boats near the shore if a tsunami struck.

During the March 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami that devastated parts of northern Japan, the resulting tsunami caused an estimate $3.08 million in damage to Keehi Small Boat Harbor docks and facilities, and damaged dozens of boats.

A Coast Guard news release Wednesday said the staging area is specifically designed for Hono­lulu Harbor due to its high traffic volume and the harbor’s role as a hub for international commerce. Whaley said 50 to 100 vessels are in the harbor at any given time.