Army divers help state salvage sunken vessel

Army divers said initial examination of the sunken fishing vessel Judy K at Pier 16 shows it is intact, but the earliest they could attempt to float the partially submerged 77-foot boat for removal would be September.

"It seems like it’s in fine shape," said Sgt. Dakota Rager, 23, who dived on the Judy K on Tuesday morning. "Obviously, the doors, things like that, are missing off the rooms, but no obvious damage. There are no holes or anything like that — not as far as I saw on my dive, at least."

The 7th Dive Detachment, 130th Engineer Brigade, 8th Theater Sustainment Command is evaluating the fiberglass-and-wood boat to see whether it can be floated and removed from 10 to 15 feet of water where it has remained mostly submerged since Jan. 12.

The state Department of Transportation Harbors Division asked the Army whether it could help after two separate commercial bid solicitations to float the boat came in between $130,000 and $190,000, which was a lot higher than expected, officials said.

The Army said it was told by the state that the Judy K was abandoned eight years ago, but others say it’s been even longer than that, with the vessel used as a fishermen’s drinking and gambling hangout.

Environmental activist Carroll Cox said the boat was abandoned in Kewalo Basin for years before being moved to Hono­lulu Harbor and Pier 16.

"This had become a place where fishermen and others would come in — the deckhands from various places — and gamble and drink and get drunk," Cox said.

Cox cited a U.S. Customs and Border Protection letter that he said went out in mid-December — a month before the Judy K sank — warning that activity on the vessel "appears to be getting out of hand."

"We have discussed this problem with harbor police, and they also have encountered problems with foreign crewmen ‘partying’ on this vessel, more specifically the crewmen found drinking and becoming disorderly," Cox reported the letter said.

Since then no foreign crewmen were to loiter or use the vessel "Judy" as a place to socialize, otherwise they would be "repatriated at the employing vessel owner’s expense," according to the letter.

The sunken vessel "has been an eyesore, and secondly, how is it possible that a vessel in these high-security times … could leave Kewalo Basin and just show up" at Pier 16? Cox said. "That, for me, is just puzzling right there."

State Department of Transportation spokes­man Tim Saka­hara said in an email that state records show the Judy K was originally brought into Hono­lulu Harbor in August 2010. Impound proceedings began in 2014 after efforts to locate the owner were exhausted, he said.

Another derelict and badly rusting fishing vessel, the blue-and-white Lea Lea, is just down Pier 16 with a notice of public auction stapled next to the cabin door saying the state impounded that 63-foot steel boat, too.

Sakahara said the Department of Transportation Harbors Division "is currently evaluating prospective offers on the immediate sale of the Lea Lea."

The state said it would try to sell the Judy K, if possible, or scrap it.

Twelve personnel from the 25-soldier 7th Dive Detachment along with trucks and scuba gear were on Pier 16 Tuesday. Four dives were planned for Tuesday with three more on Wednesday.

"It’s fantastic training" that is "mutually beneficial for the Army and the state," said detachment commander Capt. Troy Davidson.

Davidson said if it is determined the Judy K can be floated, the earliest the unit could return is September because of other mission commitments.