Abercrombie News

Iselle weakens to tropical storm from hurricane; More than 1,200 people head to shelters. Some 5,000 without power. Hurricane Julio set to reach Hawaii on Monday. The center of Tropical Storm Iselle made landfall on Hawaii's Big Island on Friday, bringing strong winds and heavy rain, knocking down trees and causing power outages ahead of a more powerful storm gathering strength behind it. While Iselle weakened into a tropical storm before reaching the islands, it was being closely followed by Julio, a Category 3 hurricane set to reach the area as early as Sunday morning - although the latest forecasts showed it tracking just north of the archipelago.

Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) announced the early introduction of the new Pride of Aloha. The ship will take over the Pride of America's published program of seven-day inter-island Hawai`i cruises, commencing July 4th of this year. According to NCL, it is still too early to know the new delivery date of Pride of America following the January 14th incident at Lloyd Werft in Germany; however, after two days of investigation it is now clear that there will be a substantial delay - months rather than weeks.

The new Matson Navigation Co. containership MV Maunalei was christened at the Aker Philadelphia Shipyard. The christening, the traditional kind involving breaking a bottle of champagne, was undertaken by Millie Akaka, wife of Sen. Daniel Akaka. Also on hand were Hawaii Rep. Neil Abercrombie and Guam Rep. Madeleine Bordallo. The MV Maunalei is the fourth new containership built by the shipyard for Matson in the past four years, representing an investment of more than $500m by Matson's parent company, Alexander & Baldwin Inc. The Maunalei will enter service in September and be deployed in Hawaii, Guam and China service. It has the capacity for 2,500 TEUs, or 20-ft. equivalent units. Source: Biz Journal

Matson Navigation Company, Inc. announced that its newest containership, MV Maunalei, has been delivered to the company by Aker Philadelphia Shipyard. The delivery of the Maunalei represents the completion of a historic four ship modernization and replacement strategy, following the delivery of the Manukai in 2003, the Maunawili in 2004, and the Manulani in 2005. "Having added only one new ship to the Matson fleet between 1983 and 2002, the four new vessels with a capital cost of over $500 million are essential to the current and future success of Matson," said W. Allen Doane, the Chairman of Matson and the Chairman and CEO of its parent company, Alexander & Baldwin. "The average age of Matson's ships was 25 years before the first ship was delivered in 2003.

New legislation that would bring natural gas drilling 20 miles off coastlines in Florida and other states is scheduled to be heard by a U.S. House Committee in Washington, D.C., according to AP reports. The bill is the latest in a series of attempts to expand offshore drilling due to price increases and shortages linked to fuel supply disruptions caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the Gulf of Mexico. Drilling opponents so far have been able to beat back attempts to lift presidential and congressional moratoriums on offshore drilling. Oil and gas rigs are seen as a threat to beaches that are vital to the Florida's tourism industry, according to the report. The natural gas bill is being offered by Reps. John E. Peterson, R-Pa., and Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii.

The Conferees on the Defense Authorization Bill, S.1059, for fiscal year 2000 wrapped up their conference after providing "Extended Lease" authority of 20 years or more to the Secretary of the Navy for the services of non-combatant ships, and rejecting an attempt by Senator John McCain (R-AZ) to repeal the three-year waiting period before foreign-built ships are eligible to carry preference cargo. The House Armed Services Committee has been working for three years to provide the Secretary of the Navy the authority to enter into long-term leases of the services of newly constructed non-combatant ships as an alternative to procuring the ships in the Shipbuilding and Conversion Account.

The Conferees on the Defense Authorization Bill, S.1059, for fiscal year 2000 wrapped up their conference after providing "Extended Lease" authority of 20 years or more to the Secretary of the Navy for the services of non-combatant ships, and rejecting an attempt by Senator John McCain (R-AZ) to repeal the three-year waiting period before foreign-built ships are eligible to carry preference cargo. The House Armed Services Committee has been working for three years to provide the Secretary of the Navy the authority to enter into long-term leases of the services of newly constructed non-combatant ships as an alternative to procuring the ships in the Shipbuilding and Conversion Account.

Ships transiting the Great Barrier Reef are being urged to participate in a world-leading automated ship reporting trial starting tomorrow. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority in conjunction with Maritime Safety Queensland is calling for ships that sail through the Reef to take part in the trial, which will use INMARSAT-C – a global satellite communications network – to provide a near-real time picture of shipping activity in the region. There are about 6000 ship movements through the GBR each year. The INMARSAT-C terminals on ships participating in the voluntary trial will be remotely programmed to send automated position reports every 15 minutes to REEFCENTRE – the ship reporting base at Hay Point, near Mackay. Ships will not incur any costs associated with this trial.