Hawaii Superferry Back on Course

Hawaii state lawmakers have voted overwhelmingly to allow the troubled Hawaii Superferry to resume operations. With caveats to protect the islands' fragile environment in place, the House voted 39-11 on Wednesday for an emergency measure that would override the Hawaii Supreme Court’s order that an environmental study be completed before the ferry could potentially start service. Idled for two months after protesters and the court ruling scuttled the much-ballyhooed commencement of service, the Superferry’s operators likely would have departed -- for good -- had the decision not gone their way. The bill now awaits Governor Lingle’s signature and Linda Lingle is on record as supporting the Superferry.

Yesterday, Hawaii Superferry President and CEO John Garibaldi released the following statement regarding the vote in the State House of Representatives: “Hawaii Superferry and its employees are very grateful to the State Legislature and Governor Lingle for their efforts over the past three weeks, resulting in legislation that will permit the recommencement of interisland ferry service for the residents and businesses of Hawai‘i. We further extend our gratitude to the vast number of Hawai‘i citizens who raised their voices and expressed their collective desire that the Hawaii Superferry be allowed to operate while an Environmental Impact Study is conducted. Although there are several operational, regulatory and legal steps that need to be completed before Hawaii Superferry will resume service, it is our hope that these tasks will be accomplished within the next two weeks.”

With Lingle’s signature in place, service from Oahu to Maui and Kauai could resume by mid-November. Although ferry opponents say that the ferry could collide with endangered humpback whales and otherwise negatively affect the relatively calm way of life in the islands, local polls showed overwhelming support for the new concept and the state’s legislators agreed. The environmental study of the vessel and its environmental impact could have taken years. Opponents of the Superferry immediately decried the new legislation as wrong and illegal.

For the time being, it looks like the state's first passenger and vehicle transportation alternative to air travel will recommence service in the near future. The new law was welcome news for hundreds of Superferry employees, who will likely be recalled from their furlough as the Superferry ramps up, once again. A second Superferry is under construction in a Mobile, Alabama shipyard and is reportedly on track to arrive and begin service to the Big Island in 2009.