1.3.1 Although due to its remoteness, the exact
route of vessels through this area is unknown, it appears that most
traffic passes to the north of the island chain, following the great
circle routes to and from ports on the west coast of North America
and East Asia. Other trans-Pacific ships travelling from ports in
Hawaii transit at least 100 miles south of the NWHI. Occasionally,
vessels transiting from the south pass within the boundaries of the
proposed PSSA (Franklin 2006; Tosatto 2005; Horizon Lines 2006; Devany
2006).
1.3.2 A preliminary analysis of vessel traffic
patterns within the NWHI was conducted based on data collected by
the World Meteorological Organization’s Voluntary Observing
Ships scheme. This scheme collects geo-referenced data from select
non-research vessels that make frequent and regular crossings of all
major ocean basins. While the scheme does not capture the total traffic
in the area, during a 21-month study period in 2004 and 2005, approximately
132 vessels reported from within the area of the proposed PSSA: 104
of these vessels were freighters, 8 were tankers, 4 were research
vessels, 2 were passenger vessels, 2 were vessels used for educational
purposes, 1 was a recreational vessel, 1 was a towing vessel with
a 666-foot vessel in tow, and 10 were unidentified vessels. The 132
vessels were flagged in 23 different countries (Franklin 2006).