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State trying to unload
white elephant of a Mog
It is stuck with a specialized
boat after being too slow to act
For sale: a slightly used "harbor Mog."
After letting one sure buyer slip away, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources is trying to unload a piece of equipment that has not been used in years.
A Mog is a fancy name for a floating crane that never quite lived up to its name for the state. The Mog proved unsuitable to clean the Ala Wai Canal and boat harbor.
Sure, it was used to remove more than 350 derelict boats in the cleanup of Keehi Lagoon from 1994 to 1996. But the Mog, purchased for about $213,000 in 1994, has otherwise mostly sat around gathering dust in the last few years.
And then came contractor Richard Namba, who began inquiring about purchasing the Mog last year after he won a city contract to clear two drainage channels leading into Salt Lake. The channels and lake are shallower than the Ala Wai.
"If the state Mog was available, I was going to bid on it," he said.
The state informed Namba last month that it was selling the Mog. But Namba had already made arrangements to lease a similar machine from the same manufacturer on the mainland.
"At that time it was too close," he said, explaining that he has between October and March to do the job because three types of birds nest in the lake the rest of the year.
State Rep. Glenn Wakai (Moanalua Valley-Salt Lake) has been encouraging the DLNR to sell the Mog since last year and is disappointed it will not be used for the Salt Lake cleanup.
"We had a golden opportunity to turn something that had become a white elephant into a real asset for the community. We dropped the ball a second time," Wakai said.
Namba said he does not anticipate a need for the machine after he completes the job, so buying a new one would have been too expensive.
"Only once in a while this kind of job becomes available," he said.
The DLNR said transporting and maintaining the "harbor Mog" has gotten too expensive, so it is offering it for sale through Aloha Auto Auction. The auction opened for bids Oct. 29 and will close Nov. 28. There is no minimum bid.
So far, the state has received five inquiries about the Mog, state Procurement Administrator Aaron Fujioka said. Information about the Mog is available online at www2.hawaii.gov/bidapps or www.equipmenttraderonline.com.
A Mog is a boat with an on-board crane for lifting debris from harbors, rivers and other inland waterways. It has four arms that extend downward for stability.
But the vessel has sat mostly idle because the stabilizing arms are not long enough to reach the bottom in many areas of the Ala Wai. And the floating vessel is also too big to fit under the McCully and Ala Moana bridges, except at low tide.
This is the first time the city is clearing the channels leading into Salt Lake, and hopefully the last, said Tim Steinberger, of the city Department of Planning and Permitting.
The city placed catch basins to trap debris before it goes into the lake, and is educating residents about surface runoff.
The Honolulu Country Club owns the waterway, but the city agreed to clear the channels along Likini and Ala Napunani streets because runoff from city streets drains into the lake, Steinberger said.
The Army is doing a study to determine how much runoff comes from state and city streets and how much comes from the Aliamanu Military Housing.
