HONOLULU -- Work to prepare, refloat and remove the Pacific Paradise continues Friday 400-yards off Kaimana Beach, Oahu. The goal of the response is to remove the vessel in the safest way possible with the least impact to the environment.
Resolve Marine Group with support from local experts are placing mooring anchors to allow a shallow water work platform to be safely anchored and facilitate the necessary preparatory work to be preformed before the Pacific Paradise can be refloated and removed.
Workers on site today, within 300-feet, report no visible sheen in the water. The Department of Health continues to conduct water sampling, and tests continue to show no presence of petroleum hydrocarbons.
The site immediately around the vessel and the vessel itself are dangerous. The vessel is in a surf zone and the structure of the vessel is compromised. Non-response personnel should stay outside the 500-yard safety zone that remains in effect around the vessel. Advisory signs have been placed on Kaimana Beach as well as on the Pacific Paradise.
The Coast Guard Cutter Oliver Berry along with a Station Honolulu 45-foot Response Boat – Medium crew are patrolling in the vicinity of Kaimana Beach.
As soon as the vessel is removed from the reef, the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Aquatic Resources will put expert teams into the waters to assess damages to the coral reef and determine appropriate steps for restoration and mitigation.