IOOS wave buoy data and information help save barge company $22,000 at least once a year
IOOS wave buoy data and information help save barge company $22,000 at least once a year
One example is a regional IOOS effort with the University of Hawaii. The partners operate and maintain four wave buoys around the Hawaiian Islands. IOOS data delivered from one wave buoy located outside the main harbor of Lanai, Hawaii – Kaumalapau Harbor – has improved oil import operations to the island. Prior to the buoy’s placement, barge companies returned 2-3 barges a year to Honolulu still full of fuel because ocean conditions in the harbor were too rough to safely discharge. This cost companies about $22,000 each time. Since the buoy deployment in 2007, barge companies know ahead of time when they can safely make the drop off and have not had to return a single barge. In addition to cost savings, the information improves crew safety and reduces threats of barge damage or oil spills.
Letter
from the President of Lanai Oil Company
"...I'm just writing to thank you and your organization the Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System for the wave buoy you placed off of Kaumalapau Harbor on Lanai. This buoy has over the years become an integral part of the decision tree that we go through when we authorize a fuel barge for the island of Lanai. Our process requires that we decide to send a barge 24 hours before the barge actually arrives on Lanai. The harbor there is the most exposed harbor in the state to ocean conditions. The buoy gives us real-time information on the wave heights and also on the wave direction. This information is extremely important in predicting the surge conditions within the harbor. By taking the swell forecast 24 hours before the barge will arrive and comparing that information to what we see on the wave buoy, it helps us predict the surge conditions during that critical period when the barge will be pumping fuel into our storage tanks. In the years prior to the wave buoy being in position outside of the harbor we struggled to get enough information to predict the conditions within the harbor. On average, we would fail to discharge our barges at least once a year due to the conditions within the harbor. Each time we fail to tie up and discharge it would cost about $20,000 to return to Honolulu and then to come back when the conditions had improved. This is a very large expense to our small fuel operation on Lanai and to the people of Lanai. Since the buoy has been in place, I don't believe we have ever missed the barge. That is how valuable this buoy has been to us and the people of Lanai. Thank you very much for all of the hard work that goes into maintaining this buoy and the very valuable information that we are able to utilize from it.
Aloha,
Terry McBarnet
President