Kahana

The Kahana was the 150-foot freighter dispatched to find and recapture the Island three months after the crash of Oceanic Flight 815. It last ported in Suva, Fiji. ("Meet Kevin Johnson") The Kahana was owned by Charles Widmore. ("The Other Woman") Among the freighter's crew was Oceanic Flight 815 survivor Michael Dawson under the alias "Kevin Johnson". It was destroyed when a C-4 bomb onboard was remotely detonated. ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 3") The only survivors left are Miles Straume and Frank Lapidus.

Description

4x08 Kahana crane — The Kahana ("Meet Kevin Johnson")

The Kahana is a supply vessel common to offshore oil fields such as those in the Gulf of Mexico, the North Sea and offshore Nigeria. This type of boat is used to ferry food, water, stores and drilling necessities like "liquid mud" to oil drilling platforms. This type of ship is generally built for speed and not duration, so the last port of call is likely close to the destination. However, it appears to have been modified for the specific task of finding the Island, and has two helipads on the deck where the boat would normally carry pallets of supplies. It was equipped with two helicopters, but one crashed into the ocean when Naomi parachuted to the Island, and the other crashed into the ocean after the Island moved. ("Catch-22") ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 2")

Captain's stateroom

4x08 Captain's quarters — Captain's Quarters

The captain's stateroom is the domain of the ship's captain, Captain Gault. The stateroom includes several bookshelves stocked with books and charts, a desk, a table, a number of padded chairs, a wall of photographs and posted notes of coastline (possibly the Island), a globe, an 18th century binnacle, a cabinet containing the black box said to have been retrieved from the staged wreckage, and, inside a file cabinet drawer, a safe with two keys—one Keamy's, one Gault's—containing the secondary protocol. A pair of bullhorns adorn the entrance door. ("Ji Yeon") ("Meet Kevin Johnson")

Kevin Johnson's berth

Kevin Johnson (Michael Dawson) was assigned a berth with two bunks, a chair, a cabinet, and a single porthole. He kept the locked crate shipped to him by the Others inside. On the cabinet he kept, among other articles, a bottle of mouthwash and the picture of Michael with Walt as a toddler taken from his Manhattan studio apartment. ("Meet Kevin Johnson")

Sickbay

The sickbay is the domain of the ship's physician, Ray. It includes two bunks, a cot, an examination table, and stocks of medical supplies. A latch on the outside ensures that persons can be quarantined within. George Minkowski, and later Desmond and Sayid, were held there. ("The Constant")

Radio room

The radio room was the domain of the ship's communications officer, George Minkowski. All calls to and from the Island and the outside world came through him in the radio room, which was filled with communications equipment. A calendar was used to keep record of the passage of time. The ship's radio was illicitly disabled shortly after the ship anchored near the Island. The culprit is presumably Michael, whom Ben ordered to damage the ship's communications equipment. ("The Constant") ("Meet Kevin Johnson")

Armory

The armory was used for storage of weapons, ammunition and explosives used by the freighter's mercenary team. It was located on the same deck as Kevin Johnson's berth, a few doors over at the end of the hallway. Omar assisted Keamy in strapping on a detonator in the armory prior to the military team's second trip to the Island. ("Cabin Fever") While Oceanic Flight 815 survivors were being ferried back and forth to the Kahana by Daniel Faraday, Desmond discovered that the armory had been filled with C4 explosives set with a radio-activated detonator. ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 1") ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 2")

Engine room

The engine room had two large engines and various other equipment. Shortly after the radio room was disabled, the engines were sabotaged by Michael, but he later repaired them. ("Ji Yeon") ("Meet Kevin Johnson") ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 2")

Quieter part

The berth assigned to Desmond and Sayid was said to be on the "quieter part" of the freighter. The berth had two unstacked bunks, hosted cockroaches, and had a large blood stain on the wall. ("Ji Yeon") ("Meet Kevin Johnson")

Ship's tender

Main article: Zodiac raft

The ship's tender is a small inflatable Zodiac brand raft. Minkowski and Brandon took the ship's tender in an abortive trip to the Island. Two other crew members later tried to steal the ship's tender to escape the freighter, but the attempted desertion was thwarted by Captain Gault. ("Meet Kevin Johnson") Gault later gave the ship's tender to Sayid so for him to make a journey to the Island and ferry other Flight 815 survivors back to the Kahana. ("Cabin Fever") It was last used by Daniel Faraday to transport several redshirts from the Island when the freighter was destroyed, ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 2") and has been traveling with the time with the survivors. ("The Lie")

Mission

4x08 Kahana in port in Fiji — In port in Suva, Fiji ("Meet Kevin Johnson")

According to Naomi, who arrived on the Island by parachuting from a helicopter dispatched from the freighter, the crew formed part of a search and recovery team, hired by Penelope Widmore. However, the actual freighter mission was set up by Penny's father, Charles Widmore, in order to find the Island and capture Benjamin Linus alive. A science team was dispatched to disable the Tempest and prevent an Island-wide counterattack by the Others, while a mercenary team assaulted the Barracks and, later, staked out the Orchid station according to the secondary protocol, in an attempt to capture Ben.
In total, there seem to have been four sets of orders on the Kahana:

Captain Gault and Naomi Dorrit's mission to locate the Island
The mission of the science team assembled by Matthew Abaddon, which at least in part involved the neutralization of the Tempest on the the Island ("Confirmed Dead") ("The Other Woman")
The mercenary team's mission, acting on Charles Widmore's orders, to capture Benjamin Linus ("Meet Kevin Johnson")
Michael's one-man espionage and sabotage mission, following Ben's orders and feeding him information ("Meet Kevin Johnson")

Movements

The Kahana left port in Suva, Fiji sometime between Day 76 and Day 80. ("Meet Kevin Johnson")
Sometime before Day 84, the Kahana closed to the approximate position of the Island and began searching for it by helicopter.
At the time of Naomi's arrival on the Island on Day 85, the ship was anchored approximately eighty nautical miles to the west. ("The Brig")
As of Day 94, it had closed in to about forty miles off the coast (twenty minutes of flying). ("The Constant")
On Day 100, with its engine power restored, the freighter came within 5 miles of the coast of the Island before it was destroyed. ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 1") ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 2")

Cabin fever

Some of the crew experienced "what might best be described as a heightened case of cabin fever"―distraction and urges to escape the ship at any cost. Two crewmates attempted to desert by absconding with the ship's tender, while Regina threw herself overboard laden with heavy chains. Captain Gault supposed it had something to do with the close proximity of the Island. He didn't interfere with Regina's suicide because, he said, he didn't want any more crewmembers to become afflicted. ("Ji Yeon") He suggested that Keamy could have been suffering from the "cabin fever" as well when Keamy returned to the Kahana determined to journey to the Island a second time to complete his mission. ("Cabin Fever")

Destruction

Freightergoesboom — The freighter is destroyed. ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 3")

The Kahana's armory was found by Desmond to be stocked with a large amount of C-4 explosives. ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 1") It was later revealed that Keamy had a dead man's trigger strapped to arm, so that in the case of his death, the C-4 would be detonated. Michael, Jin and Desmond attempted to freeze the circuits connected to the C-4 in order to stop a potential danger. However, Keamy was soon killed by Ben in The Orchid, which resulted in the explosion of the Kahana, presumably killing Michael and the rest of the crew remaining on board. It sank soon after. The only survivor was picked up by the science expedition. ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 3") Later, after Ben turned the frozen wheel, Sawyer and Juliet noticed that the smoking freighter was gone. They soon learned that they had moved through time. ("Because You Left")

People associated with the freighter

Main article: List of Kahana crew

The freighter crew is divided into three distinct subgroups: the science team, the mercenary team, and the rest of the crew (deckhands, engineers, etc.).

Trivia

The name Kahana was first seen on the ship's starboard side when the helicopter approached it in "The Constant". The name has never been spoken aloud in the series.
- "Kahana", according to a Hawaiian dictionary, means "n. Cutting, drawing of a line; turning point. Cf. kaha 1, 3. Eia maʻaneʻi ke kahana alanui e iho ai i kahakai, here's the turn of the road to go down to the beach." There are many places in the Hawaiian islands called "Kahana", and "Kahana" is also a proper name for men or women. In addition, if spelled "ka hana", this could mean "the work" in the context of a larger sentence.
- Additionally, "kahana" is the Aramaic form of the word cohen in Hebrew, which means "priest", and also "leader". All Jewish priests are descended from Aaron, who was the brother of Moses.
- In Ukrainian, "kahana" means "loved one".
- In Armenian, "kahana" means "priest."
The only known survivors of the Kahana expedition crew are Miles Straume and Frank Lapidus.
Scenes with the Kahana were filmed at sea a few miles off the coast of Oahu. For filming, the ship docked at Barbers Point just west of Pearl Harbor. The actual ship is used to transport supplies to islands and science research stations within the Hawaiian Archipelago. ("The Constant-Enhanced") The ship really is called the Kahana and is often based at Kewalo Basin harbor. [1]

References

1. Lostcast Podcast #60: Beginning of the End, Sivan Cotel.

2. The Hollywood Reporter, "Davies gets 'Lost'".

3. E! Online.