Photo By Spc. Paul Berzinas | Shipping containers are immediately loaded onto transport vehicles for distribution...... read more read more
Subscribe
HONOLULU, Hawaii - Participants from federal, state and local agencies, and private industries demonstrated the “Alternate Port Concept” for the first time in Hawaii on June 5 as a part of the Vigilant Guard/Makani Pahili 2015 exercise.
The demonstration included pre-positioning of the crane and associated equipment, arrival and mooring of transport barge, and unloading and distribution of cargo.
The purpose of the full-scale crane demonstration is to prepare federal, state and local partners for their respective roles during a disaster that requires activation of an alternate port in Pearl Harbor due to Oahu’s main ocean ports being disabled.
“This is significant because this is the first time the Navy base in Hawaii will open its port to civilian traffic, and this is critical because we have a single point of failure, the Port of Honolulu, for bringing cargo into the State of Hawaii,” said Doug Mayne, Vice Director of Hawaii Emergency Management Agency.
The Port of Honolulu serves as the hub for cargo distribution throughout the State of Hawaii, with more than 80 percent of Hawaii’s consumable goods being transported through it. This means it could potentially become the single point of failure in the chain of supplies coming into Hawaii should a catastrophic event close the harbor.
“In the event of a natural disaster the Department of Defense has a core mission to provide support to the civil authorities, said U.S. Navy Capt. Rob Espinosa, Navy Emergency Preparedness Liaison Officer for Navy Region Hawaii.
The Navy worked with several private companies including Young Brothers, Matson, Horizon Lines, and Hawaii Stevedores to make APC a reality.
“The Navy’s role was to provide the real estate to the State of Hawaii,” said Espinosa. “While we have the capability perform this mission, the intent is to get the private industry back to work.”
“They are less than five miles away with personnel and equipment so why not turn over the mission to our industry partners who this day-to-day and do it best,” said Espinosa. “The fact that we’re exercising this plan today sets us up for success later.”
“We’ve been working to develop this plan for about seven years, and it’s been a great partnership from the whole community working to ensure we can provide supplies to the State of Hawaii in the event of a disaster,” said Mayne.
VGMP15 is a multifaceted exercise, sponsored by the U.S. Northern Command and National Guard Bureau, combines the Vigilant Guard regional exercise, the first conducted in Hawaii, and the Makani Pahili hurricane preparedness exercise, led HIEMA, formerly called State Civil Defense.
| Date Taken: | 06.05.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 06.06.2015 23:20 |
| Story ID: | 165754 |
| Location: | HONOLULU, HI, US |
| Web Views: | 95 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Hawaii community partners to exercise its Alternate Port Concept for first time, by MAJ Christine Rosalin, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT