Date of incident: February 2, 2005.
Location: Barbers Point/Kalaeloa, Oahu, Hawaii.
Trustees:
Case status: The Trustees have conducted an injury
preassessment. Two phases of emergency restoration have been completed, and
monitoring of the emergency restoration is ongoing. In April 2007, the Trustees
met with representatives of the Responsible Parties to discuss the
preassessment work and restoration planning.
Overview:
When the bulk carrier M/V Cape Flattery grounded in coral reef habitat off
Barbers Point (Kalaeloa), Oahu, actions to free the ship and prevent an oil
spill lasted for nine days and caused widespread injury to coral reef habitats
and reef biota. This has resulted in the largest natural resource damage
assessment case conducted in Hawaii to date. Because much of the injury
resulted from responses to a substantial threat of an oil spill, the Trustees
are pursuing this incident under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 and applicable
State law.
The ship’s owner and operator (Cape Flattery Shipping Ltd. and Pacific Basin
Marine Services Ltd.) have accepted responsibility and entered into a
cooperative memorandum of understanding with the Trustees. Pursuant to that
agreement, these Responsible Parties agreed to fund mutually agreed upon injury
studies. The Responsible Parties are collaborating with the Trustees in injury
evaluation, emergency restoration implementation, and long-term restoration
planning. NOAA is the lead administrative Trustee.
