Starwood boosts building in Maui resort project

Advance sales have gone so well for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide's first vacation ownership resort in Hawaii that the company has increased first-phase construction at the Maui project to 103 luxury villas from the original 43.

There has been "incredible demand" for the units in the Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas, said Jeffrey A. Adler, president and co-chief executive of Starwood Vacation Ownership.

The 14-acre complex is expected to receive its first occupants in the fall of 2003. Eventually it should have 280 villas, the developers say.

Isle tug business receives double-hulled tank barge

Smith Maritime, a 30-year-old Honolulu tug and barge business, has taken delivery of a new double-hulled tank barge that it will use to transport fuel to electric power generators on Maui and the Big Island for Maui Electric Co. and Hawaii Electric Light Co.

The double-hull structure keeps the fuel-oil cargo in an inner tank physically separated from the barge's hull so that even if the hull is penetrated in an accident, the oil will not spill.

Joe Almony, operations vice president at Smith Maritime, said the barge cost between $9 million and $10 million and carries up to 70,000 barrels of fuel, or just over 2.9 million gallons.

Philip Morris to appeal low-tar cigarette verdict

PORTLAND, Ore. >> A jury ordered Philip Morris to pay $150 million in punitive damages yesterday in a lawsuit that contended low-tar cigarettes are as dangerous as regular ones.

The jury found that Philip Morris had falsely represented that low-tar cigarettes are healthier, the first verdict in the nation to make that finding. The tobacco company said it would appeal.

The jury also awarded $168,000 in compensatory damages to the estate of Michele Schwarz of Salem, who died of lung cancer at age 53 in 1999 after smoking low-tar Merit cigarettes.

Schwarz had switched from a regular filtered cigarette because she believed the low-tar version would be better for her health, said the attorney for her estate, Lawrence Wobbrock.

Wobbrock contended in court that Philip Morris marketed the cigarettes as having fewer health risks.

But James L. Dumas, one of the company's attorneys, said Philip Morris did not market Merits as healthier than regular filtered cigarettes. He said the company advertises them as milder, or feeling less harsh.

Wobbrock said smokers were getting the same amount of tar by taking more puffs on their cigarettes and smoking them closer to the butt.

Travelocity, Expedia fight UAL commission move

NEW YORK >> Two leading online travel agencies are countering United Airlines' decision to eliminate per-ticket sales commissions this week.

Travelocity.com Inc. added a $10 fee to all United fares late Thursday, while Expedia Inc. altered the Chicago-based carrier's displays on its Web site, leaving off prices and putting its routes at the bottom of the page.

The nation's other major airlines also phased out the commissions but were not similarly affected because they agreed to compensate Travelocity and Expedia in other ways. For example, a carrier might pay a bonus if the online agency can meet a certain sales target or boost the airline's overall market share on that site.

"We have broad marketing agreements with numerous airlines and we receive compensation for our sales and marketing efforts," Travelocity spokesman Al Comeaux said yesterday.

"Apparently, some airlines don't see the value that we provide to them," he added.

Neither United nor Expedia returned calls seeking comment.

Airline analysts estimate that the nation's largest carriers could save as much as $1 billion by dropping these commissions.