Ahead of Lane, Young Brothers cancels sail of barges to most neighbor islands

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Young Brothers has canceled the sailing of barges out of Honolulu for the remainder of the week, the company said Tuesday afternoon.

Starting Wednesday, all Young Brothers ports will not be accepting any new cargo. Sailings scheduled on Thursday, Friday and Saturday out of Honolulu to Kahului, Nawiliwili, Kawaihae, and Hilo have been cancelled.

"We are currently taking all necessary precautions to secure the port and ensure everyone's safety. Young Brothers' first priority is the safety of our employees, our equipment and the cargo," said Joe Boivin, President of Young Brothers.

The last regularly scheduled sail out of Honolulu took place Tuesday to the ports of Kaunakakai and Kaumalapau. No new cargo will be accepted statewide until the storm passes.

Click here to be directed to the Young Brother's website.

Preparing for lane started much earlier in the week. Around the pier, cargo containers are being rearranged so that no stack is more than two high. More importantly, nearly all of the equipment used to load barges gets moved onto those vessels to sail 245 miles southwest in order to avoid the storm.

"We can start bringing cargo out to the neighbor islands at that point in time or if the port in Honolulu isn't open we can go to Kauai, we can go to Maui, to the Big Island and we have all of our cargo handling equipment with us so we are able to respond as the state needs us to," added MacDonald.

Normal port operations will resume once the Coast Guard gives the all clear. Port conditions are currently set at Yankee for the Big Island and X-Ray for all other islands, Coast Guard officials said.

Mariners familiar with these conditions are aware that strong winds and stormy conditions are possible within the next few hours.

This story may be updated.

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