Ferry Idea Greeted as Much by Whoa as Aloha

Without passenger boats, bridges or tunnels linking the islands of Hawaii, the state’s four island counties in some ways are as isolated from each other as they are from the mainland.

That may change when the Hawaii Superferry, a four-story catamaran, begins running between the islands in about a year.

“This is like the coming of the jet age. It’s a new transportation mode,” said John Garibaldi, president of Hawaii Superferry. “How much of the beauty of Hawaii do you experience from 20,000 feet in the air?”

Over the past several decades, other boat services have tried to provide a viable alternative to commercial airliner service to move people around the islands, but every effort has failed.

The latest ferry service was originally scheduled to start this year, and it still has a long way to go before its new July 1, 2007, launch date. Even if the $235-million project starts then, it’s unclear whether it will be able to turn a profit.

Environmentalists, lawmakers, farmers and lawyers stand in the way.

Some are worried that the Superferry project is being rushed without researching traffic effects on each of the islands, without planning to prevent humpback whales from being struck by the big boats, and without protecting against invasive species such as biting ants spreading across the islands.

“We’re not being given the whole story. The shortcomings are being glossed over,” said Lucienne de Naie, chapter leader of the Hawaii Sierra Club. “We need to get real and examine these things. All we’re getting is shiny promises and platitudes.”

The Superferry is expected to start service with one boat the length of a football field, offering daily service from Honolulu to the islands of Maui and Kauai. It will carry up to 900 people and 250 cars at one-way fares of $42 per person and $55 per vehicle.

The ferry will travel up to 40 mph, with a trip from Honolulu to Maui taking about three hours -- compared with about 40 minutes by plane. The shortest trip from Oahu would be the 89 nautical miles to Maui.

A second boat would arrive in 2009 to connect with the Big Island, and that would be the ferry’s longest voyage from Honolulu, 140 nautical miles.

Plans for the Superferry have been moving along at an uneven pace for several years.

In a rush to take advantage of federal funding, a downtown Honolulu ferry terminal was completed in 2003. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta visited the unused terminal two years ago and called Hawaii’s ferry plan one of the nation’s most ambitious and forward-looking transportation projects.

Construction of the first boat is 75% complete in Mobile, Ala., and the state of Hawaii began construction in April of floating ramps to load and unload cars at each port.

Past ferry services have never lasted long, said Panos D. Prevedouros, a University of Hawaii professor of civil and environmental engineering.

“They had issues with the waves.... The ride was choppy and the demand was low,” he said. “The current project is different. This is a full-sized ferry that can transport hundreds and hundreds of passengers at a low price.”

Some state legislators have questioned Superferry officials over how they will be able to compete with the soon-to-be four inter-island airlines, which recently offered $39 one-way promotional fares.

Superferry officials argue that they will cater to a different kind of customer than the airlines, and that they don’t believe the low airfares will last. Regular airfares range above $72 one-way.

One of the keys to the Superferry’s success is its plan to allow vehicles onboard with the passengers.

Families wouldn’t have to check luggage, farmers could load their produce in vans, and school buses could bring children on field trips, said Terry O’Halloran, who recently filled a job as the Superferry’s public affairs director to help improve communications with critics of the project. “The inter-island ferry is going to connect the islands in a way we haven’t ever seen before,” he said.

But the Superferry may yet run adrift.

Several lawmakers have threatened to withhold $10 million in harbor improvements because they say the Superferry hasn’t adequately addressed some residents’ concerns. A lawsuit on appeal to the Hawaii Supreme Court seeks a lengthy environmental review before the ferry can proceed with its plans.

“Like anything else, you’re never going to make everyone happy,” said Warren Watanabe, president of the Maui County Farm Bureau and a member of a Superferry advisory panel. “From my perspective, I think they are putting forth their best effort to get everything resolved.”