SUPERFERRY! What Happened to the Superferry?

The Hawaii Superferry only ran from December 2007 to March 2009, and only between Oahu (Honolulu) and Maui. It tried to also run between Oahu and Kauai, but protesters on small boats blocked it in the harbor to keep it from landing on Kauai. The superferry spent years getting permits and spending money on the boats and the preparations, but there were continuous lawsuits from groups who wanted to block it because of traffic concerns and environmental concerns. Eventually they convinced a judge to have the ferry halted while more research was done for yet more studies and more permits, so the company gave up and pulled out of the Hawaii market.

Superferry Hawaii

People you talk to rite, we had great ferry, called Superferry, really great boat, clean, fast safe, great way to travel, but only had route from Oahu to Maui, ok? Now here Hawaii we got lotta haole greenie type people, most not Hawaiian, but still live and vote hea, ok? Also mainland enviro groups like Sierra Club, Wilderness Society, and Bluewater guys all get involve, even CBD from desert in Tucson get involve, ok? They basically lie bout what happen when ferry operate, ok? And of course Matson shipping, Hawaiian Airlines, and lotta otha businesses not like idea of ferry, and so even tho ferry operate under valid license, passed by legislature and sign by then gov, state supreme court declare it invalid, pull permit, and people who have good job from ferry all loose it, and common, working people of Hawaii no longer can visit otha island, without fly, ok? Real shame cause now we gotta fly to visit otha part Hawaii, ok? Demise of Superferry a real black mark onna state of Hawaii, and those who say the happy it go away, buncha idiot in my opinion, yeah? Hawaiian people traditionally seafaring nation, most every Hawaiian love that boat, but haole extremist enviro freak, and corrupt court system hea take it away, and that too bad, but not first or last time Hawaiian people get slap in face, ok? Someday those same people gonna be real surprise when my people finally take a stand, but now they just too busy try to make living in haole world.

Peace and aloha to you!

The Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that the law allowing the ferry to operate without environmental analysis was unconstitutional. The company has since liquidated in bankruptcy court and the ferries were sold to the US Maritime Administration.

In addition to going bankrupt following the failed attempt to operate with an incomplete EIS (Environmental Impact Stmt), which was overturned by a judge, other things that happened:

--protests to prevent the HSF from landing in Kauai's harbor.

--protests due to dangers posed to whales. Whales sometimes sleep submerged slightly below the surface. this makes them hard to see, even if the ferry stations a spotter on the bow to look. The ferry would have under 60 seconds to change course, and would instead probably hit (and probably kill) the whale.

----slowing to a speed safer (not safe, just slightly less dangerous), for te whales, would make the ferry less profitable to run.

----a whale hit would be really bad for the whale and really bad pr for Hawaii.

--in my opinion, the business plan had to include a military transport component or the business could not be sustainable. In other words, the superferry business had to include transporting military vehicles from island to island for training exercises, in order to be profitable. In Hawaii, that included the Stryker Brigade, and the ferry was pulled out of public service numerous times to do so.

Strykers fire live ammo and also things like tracer rounds, radioactive rounds, etc. Radioactivity has been detetected in areas the Stryker Brigade conducted exercises. Stryker goes on ferry. Next day, you and your kid go on ferry. Your car goes on ferry, and picks up the dust and debris the Strykers left behind. Hmmm.... you really want to ride that thing? I wouldn't.

Note that at least one of the big Hawaii SuperFerry investors was a former higher up in the military, and they had previously had ferries in Guam (? iirc) to move the US military vehicles.

The HSF also had little in place to prevent unlawful transport between islands. In the early days of operation, someone took at least one (I think it was three) truckloads of boulders from one Maui stream. The only reason the people were caught is that there was a problem and the vehicles sat on the HSF or lot, and the boulders were visible in the open trucks. You can bet that the next time anyone tried it, they used a closed van.

Hawaii doesn't have the traffic to sustain the HSF, and the undercutting of airfares made it attractive to ride the HSF but it was unrealistic to continue at those rates. It may also have played a role in the demise of Aloha Airlines, Hawaii's other airline.

That thing was a nightmare waiting to happen, I'm glad it is gone and I'm glad it's not likely to come back. We need a ferry, but not that one.

Hawaii Superferry

It was deemed unconstitutional that it had been allowed to run without a complete environmental impact statement.

The company has since gone bankrupt and received permission to abandon the vessels, to they'll never return to service.

It sank.

Mahalo nui ke Akua!!!