How much a trip to the monument will cost

The proposed monument idea from Pew needs to address operational issues that have not been discussed if the benefits are to be realized. Let’s take a look at just one of them.

Tourism to the three northern islands means transportation: either by air or by sea. I’m not a pilot and not an expert in air travel, but I’d think that the cost would be well out of reach for the average tourist, scientist, or anyone but the ultra wealthy.

We all would love to see cheap flights to there, but there are no cheap flights to Rota, Tinian, or Guam. By sea you’ll need an appropriate U.S. Coast Guard documented, registered, and inspected vessel staffed by USCG licensed, trained mariners.

The vessel has to be of size to be able to handle any inclement weather and transport the passengers in comfort. Average winter wave sizes, total distance traveled, plus time aboard dictates minimum vessel dimensions.

These indicate the vessel needs to be at least 70 feet, but closer to 100 would be more realistic. If the vessel travels at 10 knots then it will take 10 hours of non-stop steaming to go 100 miles, 20 hours to go 200 miles, etc. At 20 knots it will take 10 hours to go 200 miles. I currently captain a 65-footer that sleeps eight total, that cruises at 22 knots burning 100 gallons per hour.

To make a 220-mile trip at cruising speed we use about 1,000 gallons. A roundtrip from Saipan to Anatahan is near 160 miles. The three northern islands are close to 700 miles round trip from Saipan. If I did that with my vessel it would need at least 3,000 gallons of fuel for the trip to and from. Any time we’re not moving we are still using fuel for power generator onboard. If fuel costs $4per gallon, that’s $12,000 per trip.

The vessel will also need to buy food and perhaps water, pay for crew (at least four), maintenance, berthing fees, office costs, booking agent costs, and insurance. Repairs and profit are not included, nor is the every two-year haul out fees or the initial cost of the vessel. Finding a reliable, suitable 80-foot vessel that can cruise at 20 knots will cost at least $1 million, but realistically closer to $3 million by the time the vessel is make ready for this purpose and is delivered to Saipan.

Slower vessels may be less expensive. These are just a few of the operational issues that would be relevant. It is certainly not a complete list, but they ought to clearly indicate the depth and complexity of marine tourism by sea to the upper northern islands. After 20 plus years in marine tourism working in dozens of locations around the globe, my expert opinion is that it is highly unlikely that any entity attempting to undertake such endeavor will succeed. I also believe that no person or business will express interest in trying to do this unless it is a non-profit organization. Perhaps the Pew Foundation is interested. If so, please let me know so I can assist.

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