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Battered campus ship awaits arrival of parts

Repair of a ship damaged in high seas while carrying more than 900 college students will stay docked in Honolulu longer than expected as parts are shipped in from Europe, Semester at Sea spokesman Jim Lawrence said yesterday.

Officials had originally hoped to set sail as early as today, but the ship will likely not be ready for Coast Guard inspection "for a few more days," Lawrence said.

Meanwhile, Semester at Sea officials are making travel plans to fly students to Hong Kong and Shanghai, and then have the ship meet up with them in Vietnam.

Students will start flying out in groups by Thursday, according to the Semester at Sea program's Web site (www.- semesteratsea.com).

On Jan. 26 a 50-foot wave damaged the vessel's controls, broke windows and injured two crew members.

The incident happened about 650 miles south of the Aleutian Islands and about 1,600 miles from Honolulu.

Semester at Sea is a global study-abroad program for undergraduate students.

It is academically sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh.

Crews work to free ship aground on reef

Crews will try to refloat a 555-foot cargo ship this morning that is grounded on a coral reef about 400 yards from the entrance of Barbers Point Harbor, a Coast Guard spokeswoman said yesterday.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Jennifer Johnson said operations to offload cargo from the ship started late Saturday. The work continued into the evening yesterday.

The Hong Kong-flagged vessel, named Cape Flattery, is carrying 27,100 tons of granular cement. About 4,000 tons of cement would need to be offloaded before crews would attempt a refloating.

Johnson could not say how much cargo had been offloaded yesterday, but officials were hoping to reach their goal by the time high tide starts at 3:38 a.m.

The Coast Guard is still investigating why the Cape Flattery grounded Wednesday.

A spokesman with Pacific Basin HK Ltd., the ship's company, declined to say what may have caused the ship's grounding.

Johnson said a refloating would only be attempted in favorable weather conditions.

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Police, Fire, Courts



By Star-Bulletin staff

BIG ISLAND
Big Isle fugitive flees again after shooting

WAIMEA » A prison escapee eluded capture after firing a rifle at three men in Waimea, Big Island police said.

Sgt. Harold Sumaoang identified the alleged gunman as Kalani Kaohimaunu, who escaped Oct. 27 while at South Kohala District Court.

The gunfire erupted Saturday at a residence on Kamamalu Street, police said.

Four to eight rounds were fired from a .22-caliber rifle as the men fled in their vehicle, police said. A few of the rounds struck the rear bumper and grazed a rear passenger door.

Officers searched the area but failed to locate the gunman.

Kaohimaunu was described by police as extremely dangerous.

He was described as 5 feet 10 inches tall, about 160 pounds, with brown eyes and brown hair.

Anyone with information on Kaohimaunu's whereabouts is asked to call police.

OAHU
Drivers killed, critical in 2 Oahu crashes

Two serious car accidents happened yesterday on Oahu, one of which was fatal.

At about 11:11 a.m. a woman was killed on Moanalua Freeway near the Ola Lane overpass after the 2003 four-door Chevrolet Cavalier she was driving struck an impact rail, overturned more than twice, then slid over several lanes.

The car came to rest in the center lane, where it caught fire.

Police said speed appeared to be a factor in the crash. The driver, whose identity and age were not released, was not wearing a seat belt. It is still unclear whether drugs or alcohol were factors in the accident.

The death was the seventh on Oahu roads this year, compared with six during the same period in 2004.

Earlier in the day, a 31-year-old Kaneohe man was critically injured when the 2003 four-door Nissan Sentra he was driving veered off Kamehameha Highway about 280 feet north of Waiahole Valley Road and struck a large tree.

The accident happened at about 10:57 a.m., and the man was wearing a seat belt. It is unclear whether speed or alcohol were factors in the crash, police said.

The man was airlifted to the Queen's Medical Center in serious condition but later downgraded to critical condition. Police said he had head and chest injuries.