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Navy ends reef repairs from Port Royal incident

HONOLULU — The Navy said Monday that it had finished reattaching coral severed when one of its warships ran aground off Oahu in February.

The Navy spent more than $7 million to restore the reef and repair some of the environmental damage inflicted by the grounding of the 9,600-ton guided missile cruiser Port Royal. High surf forced the Navy to suspend those efforts in the summer.

The U.S. Pacific Fleet said environmental experts have concluded that resuming coral reattachment efforts now would do more harm than good.

The service said about 96 percent of reattached coral colonies it surveyed were still alive in August and September. The 4 percent loss is within the expected mortality rate for coral.

“The results of the recent assessments are very encouraging,” Rear Adm. Scott Van Buskirk, the Pacific Fleet’s deputy commander, said in a statement. “This, combined with Mother Nature’s work during the summer months, has convinced the experts and us in the Navy that the best course is to let the environmentally impacted area continue to take care of itself.”

The $1 billion vessel left a gash through the reef covering about 1,600 square yards. The full area of the damage has been estimated between 5,500 to 8,700 square yards.

State officials said the reef’s coral was hundreds of years old and provided shelter and feeding grounds for numerous species.

The Port Royal is currently undergoing sea trials to prepare the ship for return to full operational capability. It spent months in dry dock at Pearl Harbor undergoing about $40 million in repairs, including getting its sonar dome replaced and rudders reinstalled.

The state of Hawaii, meanwhile, plans to sue the Navy in Admiralty Court to recover the money it spent repairing the reef.

The Navy has declined to release a report on its investigation into the incident, citing pending litigation by the state. The Honolulu Advertiser has reported the probe found broken equipment, an inexperienced crew and human error.

The Pacific Fleet in June said Capt. John Carroll, who was the ship’s commander at the time of the grounding, was given nonjudicial punishment for “dereliction of duty and improper hazarding of a vessel.”

Carroll was relieved of his command after the grounding.

The Port Royal is one of the Navy’s most advanced warships. It’s capable of tracking ballistic missiles and of firing interceptors into space to shoot them down.

Previous stories:

• Report details Port Royal’s grounding

• After 7 months, Port Royal to leave dry dock

• Port Royal CO fired after grounding