Molokai News

Borealis Finance, a company that owns a fleet of bulk and container vessels, has sold one of its containerships.The Oslo-listed firm said Thursday that the 2,824 TEU containership Bomar Bellini had been sold for $16,4 million."The vessel was today successfully delivered to new owners," Borealis Finance said, without disclosing the name of the buyer.The vessel was built in 2007 by Hyundai Mipo. It was previously known as Santa Bettina and Cap Byron.Data from VesselsValue suggest that the vessel has been sold to Global Ship Lease, and also that its new name is Matson Molokai. According to AIS, the vessel is currently in Long Beach, California…

New Kāpena Class Tug Ready to Enter Service in Hawaii.The first of four new ocean-going tugs designed by Damen USA, and built by Louisiana-based Conrad Shipyard, has been delivered to Young Brothers – an independent subsidiary of Foss Maritime. The Kāpena Jack Young completed sea trials in Fourchon, Louisiana and was delivered on August 22, 2018. The new twin-screw tugs are 123-feet in length with a 36.5-feet beam and powered by G.E. 8L250 engines rated at 6,000 horsepower. Designed for high stability and maneuverability, the tug has a maximum bollard pull in excess of 83 metric tons and a top speed of 12.5 knots. In addition, the tugs are EPA Tier 4 compliant - the first tugs in Hawaiian waters to meet the new requirements, and substantially reduced emissions.

Hurricane Lane, a powerful Category 3 storm, spun slowly north out of the Pacific toward Hawaii on Friday, causing torrential downpours and catastrophic flooding on the Big Island.The greatest threat from wind and rain shifted to Maui overnight and then to Oahu, the U.S. state's most populous island, through Friday, the National Weather Service said. Hurricane conditions were possible over Kauai into Saturday, according to forecasts.More than 2 feet (60 cm) of rain had already fallen on a few areas on the windward side of the Big Island…

The 65-foot commercial passenger vessel Spirit of Kona ran aground on the island of Hawaii, Sunday, the U.S. Coast Guard reported. Coast Guard Sector Honolulu watchstanders received notification Sunday morning that the vessel ran aground on the rocks near the Kailua-Kona Lighthouse. The vessel reportedly broke free of its mooring in Kailua Bay as Tropical Storm Darby passed over the region early Sunday. No one was aboard the vessel at the time of the incident. The vessel reportedly has a maximum pollution potential of 600 gallons of diesel fuel aboard…

The Coast Guard rescued three missing divers near Penguin Bank, Molokai, Monday. "The Coast Guard advises all divers to have a dive buoy, signaling device, and reflective equipment,” said Lt. Kevin Edes, command center chief at Sector Honolulu. The divers were located at 4 p.m. six miles from their original location by a Coast Guard 45-foot Response Boat-Medium crew from Coast Guard Station Honolulu. They brought the divers aboard, confirmed they had no injuries and delivered them to their original vessel. The RB-M crew escorted the recreational vessel safely to Hawaii Kai. An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew and an HC-130 Hercules airplane crew from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point were also involved in the search.

The US Coast Guard Captain of the Port, Hawaii Pacific, has closed ports for Big Island, Maui County to include the islands of Molokai and Lanai, and Oahu to all traffic. According to a News Release issued, all cargo operations at these ports were to be secured by 6pm yesterday. Vessels transiting within the vicinity of the Hawaiian Island harbours are urged to seek sheltered waters until storm conditions subside and the Captain of the Port has deemed the ports safe to reopen. Once the storm has passed and the threat of severe weather has subsided, the Coast Guard, Army Corp of Engineers and State of Hawaii will jointly conduct surveys of channel blockage and prioritize steps to resume essential, then normal, vessel traffic.

The Coast Guard rescued eight people after their vessel sank in Kaiwi Channel, Molokai, Sunday. Watchstanders at Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu received an unregistered signal for possible persons in distress approximately 12 miles west of Molokai. The JRCC launched an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point to search the area. Shortly after the initial unregistered signal notification, watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Honolulu received a call from a father stating his son and seven others were in distress in the vicinity of the signal. SCC issued an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast to mariners in the area.

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) said it is seeking the public’s assistance after receiving a report of an unmanned adrift, black and grey inflatable dinghy offshore approximately two and a half miles west of Kaanapali, Maui, Monday. The passenger ferry Molokai Princess reported the dinghy adrift at approximately 7:45 a.m., and took it in tow back to Kaunakakai Harbor, Molokai. The dinghy is approximately 10 feet long with a 6-horsepower outboard engine. There are no markings on the vessel…

Pride International recently dedicated its ABS-classed deepwater drillship Deep Ocean Clarion at Samsung Heavy Industries Shipyard in Geoje, South Korea. This is the second of four new drillships for the deepwater drilling contractor. Its sister ship, the ABS-classed Deep Ocean Ascension was delivered in February 2010 and has been deployed to the Gulf of Mexico. The 96,000 dwt Deep Ocean Clarion is capable of dual drilling activity and can drill in water depths of up to 12,000 feet.

Pride International, Inc. (NYSE: PDE) announced the dedication of the second of its four new deepwater drillships under construction by Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea, the Deep Ocean Clarion. The company is expected to take delivery of the rig in September 2010, followed by the mobilization of the rig to the U.S. Gulf of Mexico where it is expected to commence operations in the first quarter of 2011 under a five year contract with BP. In a shipyard ceremony, Louis A. Raspino, President and Chief Executive Officer of Pride International, Inc., commented, "The addition of the Deep Ocean Clarion to our fleet further strengthens Pride's presence in the deepwater. These drillships represent the best, most technologically advanced generation of rigs.

“Old sailors never die, they just drop the anchor,” Robert J. “Bobby” Pfeiffer said over a decade ago as he was contemplating retirement. Pfeiffer, one of Hawaii’s most renowned sailors and captains of industry, dropped the anchor on Friday, September 26, 2003, at age 83, at his home in Orinda, Calif., after a lengthy illness. During his 12 1/2 years at the helm of Alexander & Baldwin, Inc., Pfeiffer became practically synonymous with business leadership in Hawaii. He charted a course of modernization and diversification, and led A&B through one of its strongest periods of growth and prosperity. At the same time he earned a reputation for leadership –– personal as well as corporate –– in support of charitable and other community causes.

NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service is seeking public comment on a request by the U.S. Navy to operate its Low Frequency Active Sonar on the world's open oceans. The Navy's Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System Low Frequency Active Sonar uses an underwater sound source to locate submarines, and the agency wants to ensure the operation of the system has a negligible impact on marine mammals. Unique to this proposal, NOAA Fisheries and the Navy are proposing to establish "Offshore Biologically Important Areas (OBIAs)" in which the SURTASS LFA sonar ships would not operate. OBIAs are areas of the world's oceans where marine mammals congregate in high numbers to feed, migrate, breed and calve. To date, the U.S.