Divers Repair Hawaiian Reef Damaged By Navy
Editor's Note
We reported this story when it first happened, here is an update...
Divers are gluing coral back together and removing unsalvageable pieces to deeper waters as they try to repair reef damage caused when the Navy cruiser USS Port Royal ran aground Feb. 5 off Honolulu International Airport's reef runway.
The state plans to submit a bill, called an admiralty claim, to the Navy for reimbursement of the cost to repair and clean up the area, said Deborah Ward, state Department of Land and Natural Resources spokeswoman. Ward said she did not have an estimate of the costs.
On another front, the Navy Times reported that it might cost tens of millions of dollars to repair the Port Royal, according to an internal Navy report detailing damage to the $1 billion ship.
Damage to the ship includes both drive shafts and support struts, instruments on the ship's underside, hatches on the forward and aft vertical launch cells, antennae and the wastewater and seawater ballast systems, which are clogged with sand and coral from the reef.
The ship, which had just come out of drydock two months ago after routine maintenance, will likely require months to repair the damage caused by the grounding and 3 1/2 days of rolling in the surf before it was pushed out to deeper water by tugboats.
