State-run ferry plan still afloat amid financial crisis

LIHU‘E — The economic crisis that refuses to leave the Hawaiian Islands has not been sufficient to sink the idea of a state-run interisland ferry system, introduced this year through a bill sailing through rough waters in the Legislature.

House Bill 1239 was introduced Jan. 26 by four House representatives from Maui, three from O‘ahu and one from the Big Island.

If passed, the bill in its current form would establish a Hawai‘i State Ferry System and a state fund to operate an interisland ferry system. The bill would also appropriate funds for the ferry system’s start-up costs.

Despite confusing statements from politicians, and skepticism regarding funding, the bill keeps steadily moving through the Legislature. The House approved and sent it over to the Senate, where it passed one committee and is waiting to be heard by the Ways and Means Committee.

“I honestly don’t think anything is going to come out of it because there is not enough money to support such a system,” said Koohan Paik, author of The Superferry Chronicles.

Paik said the issue keeps coming back because it’s a convenient way for politicians to gain instant appeal and attention amongst O‘ahu constituents.

“It’s just sort of political masturbation to get people to watch,” she said. “It’s not going to go anywhere.”

Rep. Dee Morikawa, D-Koloa-Ni‘ihau voted for the bill twice, but said it will not go much further.

“Anytime money is involved at this point it’s not going to go anywhere,” she said.

Sen. Ron Kouchi, D-Kaua‘i-Ni‘ihau, said his read of the bill is that it’s just to look into whether a ferry system would be viable.

If the ferry system ends up requiring a state subsidy, he said he wouldn’t support the bill.

“We don’t have the money to be subsidizing something else at this time,” he said.

Kouchi said with a reduced budget, there has to be other priorities.

“We need to keep our kids in school, provide the basic level of service that we’ve been providing,” Kouchi said. “That’s what our priority should be.”

Bill co-introducer Rep. Joseph Souki, D-Wailuku-Waikapu, said it’s “very premature at this point” to discuss whether the system would be state subsidized.

Despite skepticism from the politicians regarding funding, the bill has made it out of the House Finance Committee, and is pending review by the Senate Ways and Means Committee. Both committees deal with funding.

Confusion

Morikawa last week said that when the House approved the bill on third reading March 8 and sent it over to the Senate, the legislation had been reduced to a feasibility study of a state-run ferry system.

But nothing in the latest online version of the legislation itself that calls for or funds such a study.

Days later, Morikawa — who voted for the bill when it went through the House Finance Committee and again at the bill’s third reading — said that when she first saw the bill she thought it was to form a study group or commission.

“When I read the bill I realized it was to form an authority to oversee the ferry system,” Morikawa said this week, adding that the authority will oversee the existing Maui system. “I think it’s an enhancement to that ferry system.”

In other words, Morikawa said she had not read the bill prior to voting.

“When it’s in committee I pretty much go with the recommendation of the chairperson,” she said.

When the bill went to third reading at the House, Morikawa said she voted with reservations because “that’s the big vote.”

But in the state legislative process, bills that don’t make it out of a committee don’t progress.

Even Souki, who co-authored the bill, seemed to have a lot of misinformation about it.

“The ferry would not go to Lanai and would not go to Molokai,” he said. “The ferry is only between the major islands.”

But the bill states that “at minimum, the authority shall operate one high speed ferry vessel and other small vessels, as needed, for service to and between the islands of Maui, Molokai, and Lanai and other routes.”

Souki defended subsidizing a state-run ferry system, saying other transportation systems are subsidized, such as the Honolulu bus system.

Sea Link Hawai‘i, the state’s oldest ferry system, already ferries passengers between Molokai, Maui and Lanai. The company has operated since 1986 and does not take state subsidies.

EIS

The state Department of Transportation in 2005 had exempted the Superferry from an environmental assessment before it started operating in 2007.

Hundreds of protesters in August 2007 prevented the Superferry from entering Nawiliwili Harbor. The Superferry ran between Maui and O‘ahu through 2008, but never returned to Kaua‘i. Other than stoppages due to court orders, service was suspended occasionally due to conditions at sea.

In March 2009, the state Supreme Court ruled a Hawai‘i law allowing the Superferry to run without an environmental review first was unconstitutional. The state had funded $40 million in improvements at four Hawai‘i harbors, which triggered the assessment.

In May 2009 the Superferry filed for bankruptcy.

There is nothing in the latest online version of the legislation itself that calls for an Environmental Impact Statement before operations would commence.

Souki, in a confusing set of statements, said an EIS is in progress.

“We hope it’ll be complete by 2012,” he said. “It’s not signed and released yet.”

Souki said the DOT is coordinating the EIS. But minutes later he said the “EIS will be required only if there’s improvements made in the harbor.”

When reminded that improvements had been made to accommodate the old Superferry, Souki said, “That’s correct, the harbors, they have to eat the money, $40 million.”

Former Kaua‘i Sen. Gary Hooser, who now heads the state Office of Environmental Quality Control, said the state was working on an EIS, but when the Superferry went out of business the study was dropped.

He said the DOT would conduct the EIS process, and then bring it to the OEQC.

“As far as I know, the state has withdrawn all its past work,” Hooser said.

Morikawa said she voted with reservations on third reading because of environmental concerns.

“The pest problem has to be taken care of,” she said. “We don’t want the coffee borer thing coming to Kaua‘i; that would be devastation to our crops. We don’t want the coqui frog to end up on Kaua‘i. We don’t want the bee hive thing to come to Kaua‘i.”

Until there’s an assurance that those invasive species would not make it to Kaua‘i, the ferry would not be a good thing for the Garden Island, Morikawa said.

“When we allow a ferry system to come before we do an EIS, we fully default that,” she said.

Boats

Last October, both 350-foot-long Superferry ships — built at roughly $85 million apiece — were sold at a foreclosure auction to the United States Maritime Administration, and could potentially be used by the U.S. Navy.

Each of the jet-propelled vessels were capable of carrying about 800 passengers and 200 cars. However, by the time the Superferry filed for bankruptcy, it was averaging 150 passengers per trip, according to David Jung, general manager of Sea Link Hawai‘i.

“I am amazed and disturbed that the basic fundamental economic and environmental questions have not been asked, much less answered,” he said in a written testimony regarding HB 1239.

Souki denied that the bill plans to bring back the same Superferry boats that were operating in Hawai‘i until 2008.

The bill asks for an inter-island ferry capable of operating at 30 knots or more, and designed to transport at least 500 passengers, 200 cars and cargo.

Jung said a 30-plus-knot Superferry-type vessel would use between 1,500 and 2.000 gallons of diesel per hour. A one-way trip between Maui and O‘ahu would use anywhere between 4,500 and 6,000 gallons of fuel.

“This type of vessel is very fuel inefficient and cannot compete with the 450 to 500 gallons used by a DC 9 on a 25-minute O‘ahu to Maui trip,” Jung said in the testimony.

Kouchi said diesel and jet fuel are different, and before making a comparison, the cost of both fuels needs to be looked at.

When the Superferry was in operation, it was charging $125 per trip, according to Kouchi.

“At that point we were experiencing $25 airfares,” said Kouchi, questioning who would want to pay more for a longer trip.

Oil prices have gone up, and Kouchi said it costs around $200 for round-trip tickets between Lihu‘e and Honolulu.

“If the airlines continue to be more cost effective, there’s no way anybody would even go down that road,” said Kouchi, adding that it wouldn’t make economic sense.

The bill’s history

On Jan. 31, the bill passed unamended in the House Transportation Committee. On March 1 the bill passed on a 17-1 vote in the House Finance Committee, with amendments, including changing the effective date from next year to July 1, 2030.

Committee members Morikawa and Rep. Jimmy Tokioka, D-Lihu‘e-Koloa, were among the 17 “aye” votes.

Tokioka could not be reached for comment by press time.

On March 8, the bill passed third reading in the House. Rep. Mina Morita, D-Kapa‘a-Hanalei, was excused from voting. Tokioka voted for it, as did Morikawa with reservations.

The bill crossed over to the Senate, and on March 21 the Senate Transportation and International Affairs Committee on a 5-1 vote passed the bill, unamended. Kouchi, a committee member, said he was excused from voting because he was on a flight to Sacramento, Calif.

On March 24, the bill passed second reading in the Senate and was referred to the Ways and Means Committee, of which Kouchi is also a member. The bill has yet to be heard by the committee.

If the bill makes it through the Senate Ways and Means Committee and passes third reading at the Senate, it will cross-over back to the House.

• Léo Azambuja, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or lazambuja@ thegardenisland.com.