Nawiliwili Harbor News

The newest Coast Guard vessel in Hawaii, the 87-ft. (26.5 m) patrol boat Kittiwake, was designed to venture out on the sea when the strength of other ships has failed, when the mystery of that ship and crew's limits has been solved. To the men and women of the 14th Coast Guard District and the hundreds of sailors the new vessel will rescue in the future, the arrival of the Kittiwake is a beautiful sight. Kittiwake was officially commissioned on June 30 during a ceremony held at Coast Guard Search and Rescue Detachment Kauai in Nawiliwili Harbor. Bollinger Shipyards built the $3.5 million Marine Protector Class Coastal Patrol Boat in Lockport, La. to replace the Coast Guard Cutter Point Evans, a Vietnam War-era, 82-ft.

Opponents of the Hawaii Superferry lost a round in court, according to an Associated Press report, when U.S. District Judge Helen Gillmor refused to block the U.S. Coast Guard from enforcing a security zone in Kauai’s Nawiliwili Harbor when the vessel resumes service to the port. The Coast Guard established the zone and set aside a designated protest area off Kalapaki Beach after a flotilla of protesters prevented the ferry from landing Aug. 27. A separate security zone is to extend 100 yards around the ferry. The ferry, designed to carry more than 800 passengers and 250 cars between major Hawaiian islands, has been anchored in Honolulu Harbor since the protest…

A federal judge has refused to block the U.S. Coast Guard from enforcing a security zone in Kauai's Nawiliwili Harbor when the Hawaii Superferry is in port. The Coast Guard established the zone after a flotilla of protesters prevented the ferry from landing August 27th. In seeking a temporary restraining order, attorney Lanny Sinkin argued the zone would deny free speech by keeping protesters out of the water. U.S. District Judge Helen Gillmor says the security zone allows both protesters and supporters to exercise their First Amendment rights on land around the harbor. [Source: AP]

The Hawaii Superferry's fate in Hawaii is uncertain. All eyes are on the legal courts on the island of Maui, who are still in the midst of deciding the legality of the Hawaii Superferry's inter-island services. The Hawaii State Legislature, meanwhile, is preparing to call a special session to vote on the same topic should the local court ban the Hawaii Superferry. And environmentalists throughout the island state are pushing for the public to voice their disapproval of the ferry. Meanwhile, the island of Kauai is preparing for the Hawaii Superferry's return after being forced away last month by environmental activists in kayaks and on surfboards blocking the Hawaii Superferry's port at Nawiliwili Harbor.

According to reports, the U.S. Coast Guard said today that it has dispatched one of its cutters to Nawiliwili Harbor, where protesters have blocked the arrival of the Hawaii Superferry at Kaua'i. A Coast Guard spokesman said the Coast Guard also has sent a 25-ft. inflatable boat to respond to protesters. The Hawaii Superferry's 350-ft. vessel the Alakai was approaching the harbor when it was turned away by the Coast Guard due to hundreds of protesters at the site. About 500 passengers remain stranded on the Alakai, which embarked on its maiden voyage from Honolulu to Kahului earlier today. Source: Honolulu Advertiser

While transitioning from the Island Princess cruise ship to the waiting pilot boat, Capt. David "Kawika" Lyman was pitched overboard, injured by the pilot boat, possibly even the propeller. He was recovered by the pilot boat captain, and brought to Nawiliwili Small Boat Harbor, where members of an awaiting American Medical Response ambulance crew brought him to Wilcox Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. United States Coast Guard marine safety investigators were on the scene Sunday night, and continue their investigation because of the seriousness of the accident. State and federal laws mandate that licensed, experienced harbor pilots be at the helm of large…