Navy wants the two Hawaii Superferries

When the community rallied to oppose the fast-track of the Hawaii Superferry back in 2007, we began to raise concerns about the military interests driving the venture.  Corporate and public officials dismissed the concerns as paranoid rantings.   But diligent research by Lance Holter and others surfaced many connections between the Hawaii Superferry prototype and the Joint High Speed Vessel that is now in production.  Now the Virginian Pilot reports that the Navy is bidding on the two Hawaii Superferry vessels that were repossessed by the Maritime Administration:

The Navy wants the two Hawaiian superferries docked at Lamberts Point in Norfolk.

The Navy “is working with the U.S. Maritime Administration to permit the transfer of the two high-speed vessels, formerly Hawaii superferries, into the naval service of the United States,” Lt. Cmdr. Alana Garas, a Navy spokeswoman, said Friday.

One of the ferries, the Huakai, was used in the military’s relief efforts after the Haiti earthquake in January 2010. The Navy first expressed interest in the ferries after the Maritime Administration took possession of them in 2009.

The Maritime Administration said Friday that a deal had yet to be reached.

“We continue to work with interested parties, including the U.S. Navy, in evaluating all options, with a goal of maximizing the government’s return from these vessels,” Kim Riddle, an administration spokeswoman, said in an email. “We anticipate announcing a winning bidder soon.”

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