Superferry seeking military work


Just in case anyone missed, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled Monday that Act 2, passed in special session of the state Legislature in 2007 to allow the Hawaii Superferry to operate, was a special law that applied only to that one business and was therefore unconstitutional. The SF has shut down its operations after one last run today to pick up vehicles from Maui. But, breaking from the Advertiser after the SF press conference this morning...
Hawaii Superferry will search for options to lease out the Alakai after a state Supreme Court ruling on Monday found that the law which allowed the catamaran to operate during an environmental review was unconstitutional, Superferry president and chief executive officer Thomas Fargo said this morning.
[...]
Fargo, after mentioning that the military might want to lease the Alakai, addressed speculation by some activists who have opposed the project that Superferry was designed from the start as a military operation.

"That's absolutely not true," said Fargo, a former Navy admiral. "We certainly wouldn't have gone to the trouble to paint Alakai in the manner that we did, to appoint her with 836 first-class seats, to spend the huge sums of money that we did to establish service here in Hawaii if that was our goal.

"The goal that's unmistakable was to provide regular and reliable commercial ferry service in these Islands."

Early Superferry executives — and main investor John F. Lehman, a former Navy secretary — had touted the ferry's military utility in discussions with the state, including the possibility that it could be used to transport the Army's Stryker brigade between Oahu and the Big Island. The second vessel, which had been planned for Superferry's expansion to the Big Island, includes a vehicle ramp that could make it more useful to the military.

For some background on the military ties with the SF check my previous posts here, here and here, and especially see this Larry Geller's post on the subject including the fact that the SF's original PUC application included an illustration specifically indicating a use for the Superferry in moving Stryker vehicles to and from the Big Island.


Posted: Thu - March 19, 2009 at 11:07 AM    
   
 
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Published On: Mar 19, 2009 11:07 AM
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