Navy ends reef repairs from Port Royal incident

The cruiser Port Royal ran aground about a half-mile off Honolulu in February after finishing its first day of sea trials following a routine maintenance trip to Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard.


Navy ends reef repairs from Port Royal incident
By Audrey McAvoy - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Nov 16, 2009 20:15:52 EST

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.”


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2009/11/ap_navy_port_royal_reef_111609/