A Hawaiian island hop via ferry

There’s a sea of change looming for Hawaii’s residents and the state’s more than 6 million annual visitors. In about two years they will be able to hop from island to island on a huge, high-speed catamaran and take their cars with them.

At least, that’s the plan.

A 340-foot, double-hulled catamaran is expected to begin transporting passengers, vehicles and freight among Oahu, Kauai, Maui and the Big Island in 2006. The vessel, ordered by Honolulu-based Hawaii Superferry, will hold 900 passengers and nearly 300 vehicles, including trucks and buses.

Although Lanai and Molokai are reachable by passenger ferry, the largest Hawaiian islands have no such service; residents and visitors must fly among them.

“This is the last of the world’s major island archipelagos without ferry service,” said John Garibaldi, one of three partners in the venture. “The time and technology are right for that to change.”

Garibaldi, former chief financial officer at Aloha and Hawaiian airlines, said taking the ferry would cost less than flying. “We foresee a family of five, with a vehicle, traveling for half as much by Superferry as by air,” he said.

The $75-million ferry, four stories high and the length of a football field, will travel from Honolulu to Maui and Kauai in about three hours and from Honolulu to the Big Island in four hours. Its estimated speed will be 42 mph. Two catamarans have been ordered by Hawaiian Superferry and will be built at Austal USA, Mobile, Ala. The second one is expected to begin service in 2008.

Last month, Hawaiians got a preview of what the vessels would look like when the Spirit of Ontario, a similar ferry, visited Honolulu Harbor and neighbor islands on its way to its home port in Rochester, N.Y. It eventually will travel between Rochester and Toronto.

“We had a tremendous reception,” Garibaldi said. “There were 3,000 people waiting when the ship visited Kauai. People are looking for a second way to travel.”

Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii) and Gov. Linda Lingle have said they support the venture, citing the advantages of alternative transportation. Critics say large-scale inter-island ferries have not worked in the past in Hawaii because the service is not as convenient as air travel and not much, if any, cheaper.