By Gary T. Kubota
gkubota@starbulletin.com

WAILUKU >> The Coast Guard is investigating a complaint about the alleged dumping of trash off a cruise ship en route from Fanning Island to Maui.

"We're still looking into this right now," said Coast Guard Lt. Christopher Curatilo, the chief of port operations. Curatilo said there was no indication of a violation at this time, but the investigation was continuing.

Valerie and Kevin Sheppard, of Ontario, Canada, said in a written description of the incident that they were on a cruise on the Norwegian Wind on Feb. 6 when they saw in broad daylight "the most disgusting sight: Whole beer bottles, whole wine bottles, beer and pop cans, corks, plastic plates, plastic utensils, plastic cups and organic material were all being tossed into the ocean from the back of the ship."

Valerie Sheppard, interviewed by telephone, said the trash was shot out from beneath the water and then rose to the surface. She said she informed the captain, who told her and her husband that the ship was not in violation of any environmental rules.

Sheppard said she and her husband filed a complaint with the Coast Guard after arriving in Honolulu on Feb. 10.

Norwegian Cruise Lines, the parent company of the Norwegian Wind, said the ship was in international waters when there was "some discharge" and was not within the 200-mile limit of U.S. waters.

"Nothing illegal happened," said Steven Hirano, the Hawaii government affairs representative for Norwegian Cruise Lines.

Sheppard said regardless of whether there was a violation of a rule, she and her husband were shocked at the dumping of garbage.

"People should know what they're doing," she said. "Hopefully, they'll clean up their act."

She said she had given photographs taken of the dumping to a federal Environmental Protection Agency investigator in Honolulu.

Curatilo said part of the investigation involves determining the location of the ship in relationship to U.S. jurisdiction at the time of the alleged dumping.

He said the Coast Guard did board the ship, obtained copies of the ship's logs and examined the garbage.

Curatilo said the Coast Guard had a copy of the complaint but was still waiting to receive photographs of the dumping.

The 1,748-passenger Norwegian Wind and its sister ship, the 2,240-passenger Norwegian Star, frequent Hawaii waters.