While the Hawaii Superferry corporation is bankrupt, the Superferry concept itself may not be completely dead:
“We recognize the value that the ferries can provide Hawaii and are willing to work with transportation planners, providers and officials to advance proposals to use them in regular service” in Hawaii, the Maritime Administration official said.
Maka’ala.
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KOKUA LINE
Superferry is a long shot to return to island waters
By June Watanabe
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Nov 20, 2009
QUESTION: Any chance of bringing back the two Hawaii Superferries now sitting at the dock in Norfolk, Va.? Think of all the loss of income, lure for tourists and interstate produce, goods and services that are now not producing potential income. What a waste.
ANSWER: With Hawaii Superferry Inc. bankrupt and its vessels in possession of the U.S. Maritime Administration, it’s doubtful they’ll ever set sail in Hawaii again.
Still, there is a glimmer of hope.
The company owed the Maritime Administration, its main creditor, $136.8 million in loans when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last May, “abandoning” the vessels in bankruptcy court.
The Alakai and Huakai arrived in Norfolk in July and have been awaiting their next calling since then.
An official with the Maritime Administration in Washington, D.C., told Kokua Line yesterday that a decision has not yet been made.
“We have possession but not full ownership of the vessels,” she said. However, the administration “will soon begin foreclosure proceedings” and after that will decide what to do with the ships.
Is there any chance the Superferry will return to Hawaii waters?
“We recognize the value that the ferries can provide Hawaii and are willing to work with transportation planners, providers and officials to advance proposals to use them in regular service” in Hawaii, the Maritime Administration official said.
NEWS FLASH! – While kids go without Furlough Friday classes, the Lingle Administration is developing a previously secret plan to revive the Superferry. State may be using it’s Third Mortgage to negotiate with MARAD to bring the two ferries, Alakai and Huakai, back to Hawaii to operate. Feds would own and operate the ferries to be subsidized with additional operating budget appropriations to be arranged by Inouye. Story to follow at blog site.
It’s Obama’s MARAD. Does he want to help Lingle try to rescue her reputation. More importantly does Obama want to help Lingle make reviving the Superferry a 2010 statewide issue in the election. Lingle and Aiona want to use this in the 2010 election to get Oahu votes for Republicans in the statewide election if Inouye and Obama are stupid enough to follow her lead. The alternative is to just have MARAD go ahead with the plan to sell the two vessels to the Army and/or Navy.