Aloha, Superferry - News

Kalanaka wrote:

The local airline companies, the barge companies and the labor unions all seem to benefit from the reduction in competition.
Add your own to the list:

You got it Brudda! If you want to know why, just follow the dollar. Just remember this next election, and when some "tree hugger" organization comes around soliciting money. Don't forget the ones who kept their mouths shut when the vocal Minority stole the platform.

Another lost business opportunity due to the anti-business eco wackos that want to return to living in grass huts and caves. Hawaii is fast becoming a leader in the worst state to do business in. Does "third world" or one step forward and two steps back fit in?

What a shame. We took a ride on the Superferry while we were visiting last summer. A great ride and we got to sail to Maui - something we wouldn't have done without the ferry. The crew was wonderful and the ride very enjoyable. And now 250 more people out of work on the islands. It is crazy to me that this ferry sailed for 11 months with no damage to anything, and that counts for nothing. People complained that the law was passed strictly for the Superferry but it seems to me, that the Supreme Court singled out the Superferry in their ruling. No one else has had to go thru all this just to sail to other islands. I am sure that the tourist ships, Matson, etc. have done, and continue to do, much more damage than this ferry would have ever done.

What a political sham.

As a supporter of HSF, I find myself agreeing with Supreme Court-they are there to uphold good 'law', not the garbage 'law' the pol's did to open a door around the good law.

Why didn't our legislature board the HSF and go to Mobile permanently?

People of Hawaii, you keep electing the same people, over and over and over again, what do you expect? A CHANGE????

IF Linda and da ferry guys did it right in the first place, da ferry would still be here! They had at least 1 opportunity to re-think their aggresive push down the throats of our people, and chose to ignore it!(sounds like Mufi-listen up!)So NO CRY or try make us look dumb cuz you did da wrong ting! MAN UP big shots! imua

Reeni wrote:

What a shame. We took a ride on the Superferry while we were visiting last summer. A great ride and we got to sail to Maui - something we wouldn't have done without the ferry. The crew was wonderful and the ride very enjoyable. And now 250 more people out of work on the islands. It is crazy to me that this ferry sailed for 11 months with no damage to anything, and that counts for nothing. People complained that the law was passed strictly for the Superferry but it seems to me, that the Supreme Court singled out the Superferry in their ruling. No one else has had to go thru all this just to sail to other islands. I am sure that the tourist ships, Matson, etc. have done, and continue to do, much more damage than this ferry would have ever done.

Reeni is right-we have interisland barges, private planes, commuter jets, private water craft, Matson, the Navy, cruise ships, yachts, what, they all confirm dilligently that there are no invasive species??

I think more environmentally friendly whale watch observer craft encounter and disturb or even hit whales, than the craft those same groups shreik about.

Once again, we show just how unfriendly to business this state really is.

We make it hard as heck to provide a needed service to our population.

Oh well, I guess our ship has sailed...

Aloha and don't come back.

"Throw out the LAW because Hawaii needs jobs." To He** with the environment if it means Kimo won't be moving in with me. That thinking is exactly why we're covered in concrete and it's getting worse by the day. No room for people, only ant-like "tenants." Just how many Walmarts and Starbucks have to be built on farmland before you yuppies have had enough? Better yet, wouldn't you be happier in India? Does it gnaw at you when you see a tree growing when it's not in a concrete planter? I bet it does.

Thank you Hawaii, for yet another business failure by an unsophisticated state that doesn't know what it is doing and a population who acts first, regrets later. Please inform all future businesses that you intend to maintain a 3rd world mentality. And if your business does really well, you can be sure you will be taxed and taxed and taxed into bankruptcy. Only in Hawaii

Those of us opposed to corrupt politics and warmonger profiteers who expect preferential treatment from the good ol' boys (or girls) are happy the Law is finally being followed. There have been way too many lies and omissions from HSF for them to ever be considered pono by anyone who actually researches the whole slimy saga

HSF made a decision to use a lie to force the State and Lingle to make a bad judgement.

From discussions with DOT as far back as 2004 Hawaii Superferry knew that the likelihood of an environmental assessment was great and that performing such a study would most likely trigger a full-blown EIS and involve more time than they cared to spend before beginning operations.

The state auditor's report found that, under pressure from Hawaii Superferry, the DOT exempted the ferry's harbor improvements, namely the problem-plagued barge system, in order to meet a purported federal deadline of June 30, 2005. This deadline "drove the process" and pushed the state to bypass the long-discussed possibility of environmental review. Superferry officials claimed the deadline was imposed by the U.S. Maritime Administration as a provision of its loan guarantees. In reality, the deadline was part of an agreement between Hawaii Superferry and Austal USA, the Alakai's shipbuilder.

HSF still has never released any ticket revenue numbers, and many believe their gross revenues might have been insufficient to even cover the cost of the fuel, but definitely not enough to cover employee wages. They were destined to fail as a civilian ferry, some say even planned to fail. I'd love to see what the executive compensation packages were?

With the Superferry's departure, Hawaii has once again added to the rising unemployment and downturn in the economy.

The employees will have to rely on unemployment until they find another job (who knows when that will be), the farmers and small businesses will have to seek another way of receiving and transporting their goods (at a higher price) and the tourism will suffer even more (as if Hawaii is not suffering enough right now).

I truly felt the Superferry was doing something good for Hawaii....maybe these environmental groups know something different?

This is just another blow. In the economy the way that it is - the Superferry has become another means of traveling between Oahu and Maui. Since its start, there has been little concerns or complaints regarding it.
Now we are stuck again having to ship vehicles and equipment through Young Brothers and waiting a week to get what we need. Having to rent a car on Maui, filling up with expensive gas....
It's just sad that this has happened.
I don't know if the superferry will be able to come back but I hope that it will.

Just sad for the people of Hawaii and for those that used and relied on its transportation!

We need a list of Sierra Club, Maui Tomorrow and Kahului Coalition members and all their businesses so we can boycott them all.

Boycott every business associated with any one of these groups. That's the only way we can hurt them.

The guys who stold those rocks on the first run to Maui put the Bacchee on the ferry boat. It's their fault.

Shame. I was looking forward to a round-trip to Maui for a shopping trip when my family visits Honolulu next month. We planned to return in the fall as we have for the last 10 years but it looks like we may spend our dollars elsewhere.
Had your politicians had the foresight, they could have inserted a $2 million dollar stimulus 'earmark' like our Senator did to study ferry boat wakes.

Fair Winds Following Seas wrote:

What a waste! Hawaii sure know how to stop a good thing. Hopefully the Superferry returns one day. We in Hawaii live in a third world mentality. Some other countries in Asia have bullet trains, ferries, trams, subways, and much more. Lucky we live Hawaii, right? Anyway, good luck to the Superferry, it was good while it lasted. Fair Winds and Following Seas.

The SF was losing a lot of money. It would have left on its own eventually.

StateTaxPayer wrote:

Thank you Hawaii, for yet another business failure by an unsophisticated state that doesn't know what it is doing and a population who acts first, regrets later. Please inform all future businesses that you intend to maintain a 3rd world mentality. And if your business does really well, you can be sure you will be taxed and taxed and taxed into bankruptcy. Only in Hawaii

The SF would have failed on its own. They couldn't fill the boat even with the low fares. What business could sustain those kinds of losses and still continue to operate?

StateTaxPayer wrote:

Thank you Hawaii, for yet another business failure by an unsophisticated state that doesn't know what it is doing and a population who acts first, regrets later. Please inform all future businesses that you intend to maintain a 3rd world mentality. And if your business does really well, you can be sure you will be taxed and taxed and taxed into bankruptcy. Only in Hawaii

lol. That's part of the Bush legacy. Lie, cheat, steal and hide at the beginning to get your way and if the people find out the truth later on, ask for forgiveness. Now that's what I call third world mentality.

The real tragedy here isn't necessarily the loss of the Superferry, but the consequences of future losses to the state. I wonder how many start up business ventures will reconsider and cancel plans due to this sad supreme court stupid mentality here. While the exective branch did make mistakes in not getting the proper EIS studies performed in time, the real errors were with the judicial branch who botched the operation, both with Cardoza's decisions and then following through right to the fatal blow. Thanks, judges, for showing your small island mentality which will keep this a banana republic while the rest of the world is laughing at us.