and super ferries . hawaii superferry industry ferry founded 2003 defunct 2009 headquarters honolulu hawaii united states area served oahu maui website hawaiisuperferry.com the hawaii superferry was a hawaii based transportation company that provided passenger and vehicle transportation between honolulu harbor on the island of o ahu and kahului harbor on maui . legal issues over environmental impact statements and protests from residents of maui and kaua i temporarily delayed the implementation of service but service between o ahu and maui began in december 2007 . the company had hoped to return service to nawiliwili harbor on kaua i and additionally planned to eventually provide service to kawaihae harbor on the big island . 1 ferry operations were suspended in march 2009 after the hawaii supreme court ruled that a state law allowing the superferry to operate without a second complete environmental impact statement was unconstitutional . 2 the company went bankrupt as a result of these actions preventing service in hawaii . 3 on july 2 2009 a delaware bankruptcy court granted the company s motion to abandon both the ships alakai and huakai ending all possibilities that the company might return to hawaii ; 4 the ships were bought by the us maritime administration in 2010 . 5 the united states navy eventually purchased the craft for a total of 35m a small fraction of their original 180m cost . 6 contents 1 vessels 2 history 2.1 controversy 2.2 inaugural voyage 2.3 suspension of service 2.4 special legislative session 2.5 restarting service 2.6 re suspension of service 2.7 bankruptcy 2.8 revival attempts 3 see also 4 references 5 external links vessels edit the alakai docking in honolulu harbor the vessel used by hawaii superferry was an aluminum hulled catamaran with drive on drive off vehicle capability or fast ferry service . it is designed and built in the united states by austal usa a division of the world s largest fast ferry builder australia based shipbuilder austal . the vessel is powered by environmentally clean mtu friedrichshafen engines running on ultra low sulfur diesel using waterjet propulsion which the company claimed will minimize impact to marine mammals . it was capable of transporting up to 866 passengers and 282 subcompact cars . the first ship the alakai arrived in honolulu harbor on june 30 2007 . 7 the second ship the huakai was scheduled for completion in 2009 but due to state court ruling halting service the huakai was abandoned along with alakai . 4 history edit an aerial view of the alakai at nawiliwili harbor on kaua i during her open house on august 19 2007 private steamships and ferries were the sole way of traveling between the islands from the 19th century until the 1950s and returned twice since statehood first with vehicle ferries in 1959 1960s between oahu maui and big island aboard which legendary surfer eddie aikau moved with his family from maui to oahu . and seaflite which operated fast 50 knot hydrofoils between the major islands in the mid 1970s . 8 currently there is passenger ferry service between lana i and maui . the concept of the superferry was founded in 2001 and first announced by founders timothy dick john garibaldi and robert terry white in september 2003 after more than two years of planning . hawaii superferry stated its plans to operate a daily service between the newly built interisland ferry terminal at pier 19 in honolulu harbor to kahului on maui and nawiliwili on kauai with later expansion of service to kawaihae near kona on the big island . the company claimed fares for a family trip to be similar to the equivalent airfare car rental and parking . 9 in january 2004 the company formed a partnership with austal to build two high speed catamarans . 10 construction on the first ship began in june 2004 . meanwhile the company secured its first investors including maui land & pineapple company 11 and grove farm on kaua i. 12 and a marad loan guarantee of 140 million 13 controversy edit this article s criticism or controversy section may compromise the article s neutral point of view of the subject . please integrate the section s contents into the article as a whole or rewrite the material . november 2010 generally the issues surrounding the hawaii superferry can be summarized as procedural concerns the hawai i state supreme court ruled that gov. lingle illegally exempted the hawaii superferry from an environmental impact study and later ruled that the special law exempting it was unconstitutional . 14 environmental concerns these can generally be divided into concerns for marine life primarily due to the speed of travel which although slower than seaflite ferries which operated without incident in the 1970s critics cited as unnecessarily high and dangerous to whales dolphins turtles and other animals . concern for the environmental impacts were threatened by the virtually unrestricted inter island transport of vehicles particularly by o ahu residents engaged in recreational activities . the unrestricted inter island transport of vehicles also threatened the spread of invasive species between islands . the eggs of a coqui frog an invasive pest on the big island can travel through mud splashed underneath vehicles . 15 the introduction of invasive species further jeopardizes endemic endangered species . militarization it is pointed out that the superferry s chairman john f. lehman is a former u.s. navy secretary whose expertise is in the investment in companies with marine aerospace or defense applications . 16 traffic congestion due to the size of the state and lack of roads and other improvements on the outer islands traffic expanding to these areas is a concern although not significantly different than visitors renting cars on those islands . inaugural voyage edit the hawaii supreme court ruled on august 23 2007 that the state department of transportation had erred in not requiring a second environmental impact assessment for harbor improvements at kahului harbor reversing an earlier ruling in 2005 by maui circuit court judge joseph cardoza . 17 superferry then announced that it would accelerate its launch to august 26 2007 two days earlier than its originally scheduled launch date . 18 service began with inaugural 5 fares . the inaugural voyages were sold out . the voyage to maui was smooth and uneventful with a few environmental protesters observing peacefully at kahului harbor . however about a dozen protesters on surfboards blockaded the ferry at nawiliwili harbor on kaua i. the coast guard cleared the ferry s path after 90 minutes . 19 upon docking protesters confronted passengers including kaua i residents and some vandalized cars . several protesters were arrested . 20 21 22 23 suspension of service edit on august 27 2007 judge cardoza issued a temporary restraining order barring the superferry from accessing kahului harbor causing maui service to be suspended . 24 meanwhile the superferry was forced to turn back from its second trip to kaua i after protestors again blockaded the nawiliwili harbor resulting in several more arrests . superferry passengers were forced to remain on board for 9 hours while kaua i residents were denied the ability to board the ferry . the company subsequently suspended services to kaua i. 25 the protesters concerns were that a ferry of this size traveling at speeds of about 40 mph 64 km h could strike and kill whales during its voyages despite this never occurring during the years the faster 50 mph seaflite interisland ferries operated . other concerns included the potential to import invasive species between islands and the potential to bring drugs and homeless people to kaua i although it is unclear whether such risk was any different from the interisland airlines . 26 in a meeting with state senate president colleen hanabusa on september 14 2007 the company stated that it may have to find another home for the ferry in order to pay operating expenses repay debt and provide return on the investments made . describing their meeting hanabusa commented that they would have staying power for a month outside a month and a half . superferry officials while declining to elaborate did not dispute this . 27 on october 9 2007 maui judge joseph cardoza ruled the ferry could not resume service while the state conducts an environmental impact assessment . two days later superferry ceo john garibaldi announced that the company would lay off 249 employees . fifty nine workers remained on the job to handle administrative and operational duties . the maritime community was disturbed by the loss of jobs for u.s. mariners . 28 special legislative session edit in mid october 2007 governor linda lingle met with the leaders of the hawaii state legislature to propose a special legislative session to allow the ferry to operate while the state completed an environmental impact assessment . senate and house leaders agreed . governor lingle called the legislature into special session on october 24 2007 . 29 in preparation for the session legislators made trips to kaua i maui and the big island to get reactions . on kaua i the meeting was calm but on maui the meeting was more emotionally charged . 30 on monday october 29 2007 the state senate approved a bill to allow large capacity ferry vessels to operate between ports in the hawaiian islands while an environmental statement is prepared . 31 the house passed the bill on october 31 on a vote of 39 11 . 32 governor lingle signed the bill into law on november 6 2007 . 33 restarting service edit on wednesday november 14 2007 maui court judge cardoza lifted the injunction banning the ferry from sailing to kahului harbor consistent with the new law . hawaii superferry s ceo john garibaldi released this statement on behalf of hawaii superferry s family of employees we are pleased with the judge s decision today . we are grateful for the support shown by the governor legislature and residents of hawaii and look forward to commencing service soon . 34 superferry restarted daily round trip service to maui on december 14 . 35 re suspension of service edit in december 2008 environmental groups and the company returned to court for an appeal of the previous ruling . on march 16 2009 the hawaii supreme court ruled that allowing the superferry to operate prior to completion of the environmental study was unconstitutional . 36 the company immediately suspended service and laid off its 236 employees . 2 37 bankruptcy edit on may 30 2009 two months after suspending service hawaii superferry filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection . 38 39 the company would then abandon the vessels ending all possibilities to return service . 4 revival attempts edit on february 8 2010 state lawmakers announced the introduction of a bill that would buy or lease both the alakai and huakai and possibly start a state run ferry service ; 40 the bill was killed two months later . 41 the revival resurfaced in july 2010 when former honolulu mayor mufi hannemann introduced a 10 point action plan to boost the state s economy if he is elected governor . hannemann said he was in talks with a group of investors interested in buying both alakai and huakai . 42 43 on march 21 2011 the hawaii state senate committee approved a planned proposal to establish a state run ferry authority with the power to borrow money and purchase a high speed ferry for interisland service . house bill 1239 introduced by state rep. joe souki of maui would set up the hawaii state ferry system and a special fund for its operation . however there were mixed reaction as to how it will be structured and to how it will be run . 44 on february 4 2016 the honolulu advertiser reported that lawmakers have directed the department of transportation to conduct a feasibility study to establish