January 2008
You are currently browsing the articles from Flavor of Maui written in the month of January 2008.
The state Department of Transportation said 10 weeks of daily tugboat service — at a cost of $350,000 — is needed at Kahului Harbor to support Hawaii Superferry operations. The tug service is necessary to keep a state-owned barge snug against the end of Pier 2C during ocean surges and to provide safe loading and unloading of passengers and vehicles, according to a request filed Friday to exempt the contract from state procurement rules. Without the assistance, the state could be liable for damage claims by the Superferry of $18,000 a day if it cannot meet its obligation to provide barges with mooring systems to enable ferry operations, the request said.
Written by Maui Tomorrow News on January 24th, 2008 with comments disabled.
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The Hawaii Superferry is in an "emergency situation" with so few passengers that its ability to continue running between Oahu and Maui is imperiled, according to a letter written last month by attorneys for the Superferry.
The Superferry vessel Alakai, which can seat 866 passengers, is averaging only 150 passengers per day, far below its planned ridership of 410, according to the Dec. 21 letter from Superferry attorneys Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel. The letter was sent to the state Public Utilities Commission requesting an extension of the Superferry's $39 one-way promotional fares through June 5.
Attorney Audrey Ng wrote that Hawaii Superferry "must increase its business immediately" to address weak bookings, interisland airline competition and continuing litigation and protests; to pay for fixed expenses as well as to compensate for repeated delays; and to start a second Maui trip.
Written by Maui Tomorrow News on January 18th, 2008 with comments disabled.
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Invasive species have been a problem in Hawai'i since the first Polynesians set foot on these Islands, bringing rats and pigs that centuries later continue to threaten fragile and unique ecosystems.
The onslaught of imported pests has only multiplied as subsequent arrivals introduced new plants, animals and bugs to Hawai'i - sometimes by accident, sometimes on purpose.
The recent controversy over the Hawaii Superferry, the state's newest mode of interisland travel, spotlighted the invasive-species issue and exposed weaknesses in prevention and control programs that are likely to be discussed during the upcoming 24th Legislature, according to state Rep. Clifton Tsuji, chairman of the House Agriculture Committee.
Written by Maui Tomorrow News on January 16th, 2008 with comments disabled.
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Staff at the state Department of Transportation told Hawaii Superferry in October 2004 that a statewide environmental assessment would be required for the new interisland ferry service. But Superferry executives resisted and, within two days, scaled back the project in a calculated attempt to get an exemption from the state's environmental review law, state records show.
Some in the department not only thought Superferry should be responsible for doing an environmental assessment — one described it as the "right thing to do" — but also seriously considered doing an environmental review of the state's $40 million in harbor improvements for Superferry.
Written by Maui Tomorrow News on January 7th, 2008 with comments disabled.
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Hawaii Superferry’s announcement Friday of a second round-trip voyage this month between Maui and Oahu riled critics, who questioned the ferry’s traffic impacts and the greater risk of nighttime whale collisions.
“It’s timing is really bad for Maui, proving once again that this is for Oahu people, not Maui people,” said Karen Chun, Web master for Save Kahului Harbor, which organized ferry protests last month.
The second trip between the islands doesn’t help Maui residents because they couldn’t go to Oahu, spend some time there and return the same day, Chun said.
Written by Maui Tomorrow News on January 5th, 2008 with comments disabled.
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