CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM The vessel Cape Flattery remains stuck on a reef off Barbers Point Harbor, where it ran aground Wednesday.

Cargo will be next to go
if ship remains stranded

Crews could begin unloading the 27,000-ton cargo of bulk cement from a grounded freighter today in the fourth day of efforts to free the 550-foot ship from the reef off Barbers Point Harbor.

A Coast Guard spokesman said removal of all 128,000 gallons of fuel oil aboard the Cape Flattery was expected to be completed last night. If that was not enough to launch the stranded vessel, the lightening operation would continue.

Avoiding pollution is the first priority in the joint operation by federal, state and private agencies, said Coast Guard Cmdr. Mike Greene, on-scene coordinator. Freeing the huge ship is second, he said.

There has been no sign that any fuel spilled at the scene near the entrance of Barbers Point Harbor. Marine Spill Response Corp. deployed a floating oil containment boom around the ship and the barge into which the oil was pumped.

Curtis Martin, state Department of Health on-scene coordinator, and representatives of other participating agencies spoke at a news conference yesterday at the office of the Clean Islands Council, an oil spill response cooperative.

Minimizing damage to the marine environment is a concern, said John Naughton, of the National Marine Fisheries Service.

"There are some significant resources in the area, coral growth that is very old, and it is a foraging and resting habitat for green sea turtles," he said. He recommended against dropping anchors around the ship, and a Wednesday effort by tugboats to pull the ship from the reef was abandoned after four hours.

Greene said the cause of the grounding early Wednesday is under investigation. A pilot had gone aboard the ship as it was to enter the Leeward harbor with its cargo for Hawaiian Cement.

"We are responsible," said James Lawrence, spokesman for Hong Kong-based Pacific Basin Shipping Ltd., the management company that represents the Cape Flattery.

He said it is too early to estimate the cost of the operation. The ship was launched last year and sails under a Hong Kong flag. This was its first trip to Hawaii, Lawrence said.

Divers found no sign of a hull breach on the vessel, which rests on sandy coral bottom from its bow to about 400 feet along its keel. The 22 crew members remain aboard during efforts to free the ship.

The Coast Guard Cutter Washington is at the scene to enforce the 500-yard safety zone.