Navy Ship runs aground in Hawaii

[CaptFlyingDutchman]

Sounds like the Navy is in trouble.

State to seek claims against Navy for damage to reef off airport | HonoluluAdvertiser.com | The Honolulu Advertiser

 

[CaptFlyingDutchman]

The outcome of the USS Port Royal grounding

Hawaii-based ship's grounding detailed | HonoluluAdvertiser.com | The Honolulu Advertiser

 

[scottitheduck]

So, they mention the damage to the ship several times...... but only one paragraph on the reef. BTW..... how does the Navy go about "repairing" a living coral reef?

G

 

[sabbath999]

So, they mention the damage to the ship several times...... but only one paragraph on the reef. BTW..... how does the Navy go about "repairing" a living coral reef?

G

Superglue.

 

[Daiika]

I think a couple days after the ship was moved, they had Navy divers using a special coral cement to glue back the pieces. This does actually work to some extent. But there was about 2 acres to cover. Also the small debris they took and dumped into deeper water.

They also contacted some commercial divers to assist with the clean up and gluing. They were paying $300/hr. 3 -hours work a day. I was trying to get on this job.

 

[rgbmatt]

With ship groundings, the original coral is pretty much toast and there's not much you can do about it.

However, the real problem is that for new coral to grow, it needs a solid substrate. If the area's been turned to rubble it rolls around in the surf and nothing can grow on it. The loose pieces can also damage surviving coral nearby and stir up sediment which isn't good either.

So, the theory behind repairing ship damage is to cement the area back together so it's solid and can recover naturally. There's been a ton of research done on this (mostly in Florida IIRC) and it's apparently quite effective.