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Hawaii court forces Superferry to cease operations

kapish

kapish

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Hawaii court forces Superferry to cease operations


HONOLULU (AP) — The operator of the first passenger-vehicle ferry between major Hawaiian islands will stop its service after a court ruled it unfairly was allowed to bypass an environmental review.


Hawaii Superferry said Monday night it has decided "to cease operations for the present" in the wake of the state Supreme Court ruling.
The Superferry, a car and passenger service that links Oahu and Maui and hopes to expand, has been under fire from critics who argue the use of 350-foot catamaran could harm whales and damage the area's fragile ecology.


Article in its entirety can be found here: [link]
 
When the tourism-based economy of Hawaii is floundering, that's all they need is for the enviromental ninnies to put the Superferry out of business. Of course, with many ''enviromental'' lawsuits, the real backing may have come from competitors, such as perhaps in this case airlines, for such a suit.
 
End result is more job losses for Hawaii. The Superferry will start lay-offs on Friday.

Jen
 
What about all of those boats and barges and ships that are running around in all kinds of weather and times of day delivering food and stuff:ignore:
 
daventrina said:
What about all of those boats and barges and ships that are running around in all kinds of weather and times of day delivering food and stuff:ignore:
Click to expand...

I was sort of wondering about all the cruise ships that offer Hawaiian sailings. NCL has one that does weekly 7 night cruises and sails from the same port in Oahu as the Superferry. I suppose that NCL ship has less impact on the environment than the Superferry did.

This really just sounds like Hawaiian government playing politics to me, but, why should they be any different than the rest of the world?
 
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It seems to me they had plenty of time to stop this in the begining.

Just when Hawaii needs it too but I'm sure some are happy.
 
I would think the cruise ships would have WAY more impact and I don't like seeing them in Hawaii, they seem to loom over everything on the outer islands. I'm wondering if the problem for the Super Ferry is that they didn't do the EIR first. That seems to be the complaint, not that they are saying for sure there is impact, but by not doing the study, the impact isn't known and can't be mitigated.
Liz
 
I thought this would happen

Recall last year we had an ongoing discussion about this. There are some very interesting legal issues concerning the reef that just have not been addressed. I was surprised this case made it as far as it did. I have not read the actual decision but apparently the court has remanded to consider the reef impact. We were in Hawaii a week before the decision was rendered
and apparently the ferry company anticipated it. At least several local residents I talked to said there were big problems.
 
not exactly, Harry. :)

Act 2 was declared unconsititional. (state court, state constitution, something about the land rights act) because it only benefitted a single company. If you really care, there's an interesting blog out there about the law and why it was unconstitutional. There's no federal issues, so it won't go any higher than the state court.

Act 2 is the law that allowed SF to operate without an EIS.

This is just the beginning of the war. It will go on for years and years, I'm sure.

-David
 
I am not taking sides (too far away, don't know that much about it), but here is a site that makes the case against the superferry.

The antis

(The case for it appears to be jobs, a possible tourist attraction, and greater ease moving about the islands.)
 
I had friends who would ride the ferry back and forth from Maui to Oahu instead of taking the day tour from the boat.
I always wanted to try it since they said it was whole lot better than seating on the plane.
They got to see more dolphins and relax with plenty of rooms and food on board. They also have game room for kids.
I am thinking about boycotting Hawaii......Nah, I think Hawaii is just too pretty to boycott but I will reduce thinking about going to Hawaii.
 
Wacko's and Beaurocrats won !!!

A very good idea, AND a needed transportation system "down the drain".

How many jobs being lost did this cause? How much revenue did the state lose? I guess the Hawaii government is "flush" with $$$, so it doesn't need the additional dollars the business would supply.

I think some people should look at the "big picture", rather than just their "small" focus.

As far as environmental impact---did ALL the tour operators and other boat owners HAVE to file an environmental impact report? If they didn't, I think they should all be shut down until it is done---how would the state like that---the loss of tourist revenue to the state??? HEY---what's fair is fair !!!

Tony
 
ouaifer said:
:cheer: Superferry files for bankruptcy. :cheer:
Click to expand...
You're cheering because a bunch of people lost their jobs? :confused: Should we all be cheering now that GM has declared bankruptcy?

I agree with Tony -- there was definitely a double-standard applied to the Superferry. Now the airlines just have greater monopolistic choke hold on us for inter-island air travel. How anyone thinks this is a good thing is totally beyond me.

Kurt
 
The inside scoop is that the Governor had promised to negotiate them around the red tape, and then failed to come through. So, after this court decision, they just decided that it wasn't worth it and pulled out of the market.
 
ouaifer said:
:cheer: Superferry files for bankruptcy. :cheer:
Click to expand...

I could be wrong, BUT, I think the "moving icons" (or whatever you call them) was to attract attention, that a bankruptcy was filed, NOT that it was a good thing, and jobs were lost.

As I said before, "The Wacko's won, to the detriment of the "people".

Tony
 
teepeeca said:
I could be wrong, BUT, I think the "moving icons" (or whatever you call them) was to attract attention, that a bankruptcy was filed, NOT that it was a good thing, and jobs were lost.
Click to expand...
If (and that is a big IF) it was just to attract attention to the post, then it was extremely stupid to choose the "cheer" icon with so many others to pick from -- it sent the wrong message, to say the least.

Kurt
 
Folks - let's not make this personal...
 
I do not think it means that a like service will never be offered. As the article mentioned, you have a company with massive debt - which probably doubled with delivery of the 2nd ship on Mar.28. And due to the court order, they had no revenue. Bankruptcy is a outcome of that situation.

Does not mean that someone does not buy the assets out of bankruptcy and resume service when the EIS is complete - assuming it is favorable.
 
ecwinch said:
I do not think it means that a like service will never be offered. As the article mentioned, you have a company with massive debt - which probably doubled with delivery of the 2nd ship on Mar.28. And due to the court order, they had no revenue. Bankruptcy is a outcome of that situation.

Does not mean that someone does not buy the assets out of bankruptcy and resume service when the EIS is complete - assuming it is favorable.
Click to expand...

The news article said it was a Chap 11 filing, not a Chap 7.
 
Super Ferry vs Airline Ride

I am ion the Sanfrancisco Bay Area.

I would bet dollars to donuts if you knew the private conversations, that there was input from the airline industry to kill the ferry just like the oil companies and car manufacturers killed our San Francisco ferry system and lobbied for the bridges to be built. Probably something like we won't lower airline ticket prices to Hawaii if we don't get some help here (to stop a potential ferry system)

The business of the enviromental laws may or may not be valid, but they are effective. Look how we quit building homes for our residents here in the North Bay to save a frog. But the frogs have a place to live.

Likewise, if you are trying to kill a project that could undermine the airline industry between islands, what more pure way than to say it's bad for the environment.

AND, you don't pull this kill card until the ferry is totally up and running so you bankrupt them. That way they don't come back.
 
Loss of the Super Ferry

I'm all for "saving the aina" but I do believe that the Super Ferry was singled out unfairly and that the Super Ferry bent over backwards to show they would implement all safeguards. I know the environmentalists feel triumphant, but so many people have been hurt by the loss of the Super Ferry. Jobs, of course, but teams were going to take all their members and equipment on a bus on the ferry.....what an easy way to go! People were going to be able to ship their goods more cheaply, patients could travel to Oahu for better medical care more easily (wheelchairs are tough on a plane!)
Air fares continue to go up and many simply can't visit family on neighbor islands the way they would have if we could have kept the ferry.
I wanted it so badly I could taste it! (I know....the kiss of doom!), but most of my TS's are on Kauai, and I look forward so much to driving my own car over there.....a few selfish people ruined it for many more!
 
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