Turning away the cruise ship at the last minute.

[SusieMisajon]

Am I the only one to think it is not correct to turn a cruise ship with almost 3000 passengers away from Hilo Harbor at the last minute? Just where is the ship supposed to go, and how long will it take to get out of harms way?

Closing the harbor an hour before the ship was to dock should be considered criminal. Someone, somewhere, must've known that this was set to happen, and the ship should have been informed at least 12 hours ago.

'Any port in a storm' has no meaning, I guess. Or was this done for insurance CYA?

[TATTRAT]

Re: Turning away the cruise ship at the last minute.

Last itme I went home to Bermuda we sailed out of Boston as a hurricane was edging up the east coast. We got to BDA and were turned out of St.George as the seas were to rough(the whole ride was rough, we went through the tail end of the storm)and w3ere told we were going to re rout to Hamilton, but the harbor pilot said it was unsafe...long story short, 2 days bobbing around waiting for the weather to clear. The captain just went in circles pretty much.

22-30ft seas at it's worst. I was sure they could smell the boat coming. Those ships can withstand a lot though. Sometimes it is safer to just stay at sea then risk arriving in port.

[LikaNui]

Re: Turning away the cruise ship at the last minute.

Am I the only one to think it is not correct to turn a cruise ship with almost 3000 passengers away from Hilo Harbor at the last minute?

Anyone with knowledge of ships and ocean storms knows that it absolutely IS the correct thing to do. So no, you're not the only one, you and the others just aren't familiar with this. No harm, no foul.

Just where is the ship supposed to go, and how long will it take to get out of harms way?

The ship should go northeast, away from the storm. As for how long it will take, that obviously depends on how fast the ship can go.

Closing the harbor an hour before the ship was to dock should be considered criminal.

No, closing the harbor should be considered HEROIC, since lives and property may be saved by that action.

Someone, somewhere, must've known that this was set to happen, and the ship should have been informed at least 12 hours ago.

I guess someone forgot to tell Mother Nature that hurricanes should operate on set schedules. How dare they have the nerve to vary in course and instensity hour to hour?

'Any port in a storm' has no meaning, I guess.

In hurricanes and tsunami situations, 99% of the time it's safer for boats to be at sea and more dangerous to be in port.
Thus endeth today's lesson.

[helen]

Re: Turning away the cruise ship at the last minute.

As to where to go for the time being, either north or north east since the storm is heading north west. And since Flossie is traveling 11 to 15 mph, any ship traveling at least 15 to 20 mph should be able to outrun the storm assuming they are moving away from it.

As far as being turned away at the last minute maybe everyone involved through the ship could dock safely in Hilo but maybe conditions now prevent that from happening.

[timkona]

Re: Turning away the cruise ship at the last minute.

As there are no decent harbors on Big Island, a ship would be wise to steer clear of land for the next day or so.

The phrase "Any port in a storm" only applies when there are ACTUALLY protective ports and harbors to hide in. Big Island has none of those.

Good examples would include SF Bay, Pearl Harbor, and other large harbors.