Homeported in Honolulu, NOAA
Ship Hi'ialakai is part
of the NOAA
fleet of ships and aircraft operated, managed and
maintained by OMAO, which includes both civilians and the commissioned officers
of the NOAA Corps, one
of the seven uniformed services
of the United States.
Price adds that «each
ship needed two sails, and there were hundreds
of ships,» raising the possibility that slave labor was needed to
maintain the
fleet.