Honolulu Harbor Is a Nonrenewable Resource

In all of the Hawaiian Islands, there are only two large natural harbors. Both are on the leeward side of Oahu and, we forget, they are the keys to how Hawaii developed.

Before Western contact, the Hawaiian canoe could skim through little openings in the reef and land on the beach. But when deep-draft ships came to Hawaii, a deep-draft port became of paramount importance. Kamehameha I built his compound (and also a fort) next to Honolulu Harbor. What originally was a small fishing village eventually became a major American city.

Wondrous though the harbor is, it has always been on the small side when measured against need. Honolulu has one of the country’s 10 busiest ports, but we are among the smallest one-third in actual space. Being aware of this overall equation, as governor I supported dockside development of Honolulu Harbor while approving construction of the Barbers Point harbor, now called Kalaeloa.

On the state of Hawaii Web site today, you can find documentation that capacity at Honolulu Harbor remains at a premium. Based on a recent study, the State anticipates a “looming shortage” of harbor space. According to the study, the harbor system will reach capacity by 2011. In planning terms, this is a few blinks of the eye.

The study goes on to say that some maritime industries are already being “negatively impacted by a lack of adequate expansion space and aging facilities.”

One reason for the looming shortage is the rapidly increasing number of calls by cruise ships, which rose from 121 in 2005 to 214 in 2006. On top of that, the Superferry will begin to call regularly this summer, if it is not hung up by Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) issues.

Knowing all of this, the state government is nonetheless moving forward with a plan to take Piers 5 and 6 out of the working harbor and convert them to non-maritime uses, such as residences, restaurants, parking spaces etc. Piers 5 and 6 are two of the big container piers on the Waikiki side of the Hawaii Maritime Center. I grant that the reasons sound enticing – “vibrancy” for the city’s life and “synergy” for the existing Aloha Tower Marketplace.

However, we should slow down and step back. When San Francisco turned its waterfront into a boutique for tourism, its heavy-duty maritime industries migrated across the bay to Oakland. The small Kalaeloa Harbor is scarcely an equivalent to Oakland, so our maritime industries really have no place else to go – for reasons that a great leader, Kamehameha, understood in his time. We can build condominiums in many places, but we have only one Honolulu Harbor.

I would make the same argument if we were reaching harbor capacity not in four but 14 years. It would still be a matter of resisting the temptation to develop our resources for the wrong uses now instead of preserving them for proper uses in the future.

When the public cried out against high-rises on the ocean side of Kakaako, it reflected an understanding that we should save open space near the water. Ideally the public presently understands that the future of Piers 5 and 6 is an equivalent issue – long-term good versus short-term development. Unfortunately, there has been no education done on the looming problems of the harbor, so in the public mind the tradeoff is cargo space – which the public cannot access – for retail and recreation space.

If we are going to give the harbor its proper priority, the downtown business community should educate itself in a hurry and raise its voice with the Aloha Tower Development Corp. and the state of Hawaii.

George R. Ariyoshi, chairman and cofounder of Convergence CT and Cellular Bioengineering, is the former president of Prince Resorts Hawaii Inc. He is active in international business circles, particularly in Asia. An attorney by profession, Ariyoshi served in elective office in Hawaii from 1954 to 1986. He served as governor of Hawaii from 1973 to 1986 and was the first Japanese American to be elected governor in the United States.

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