The Hawaii Superferry is officially never returning to Hawaii since they are essentially abandoning their two ships during their current bankruptcy proceedings. This is a really tragic turn of events. It is also very frustrating as the opponents of the HSF never truly allowed this revolutionary service to prove itself.
Thus as result of this decision Hawaii taxpayers and harbor users will be taking a hit even though the HDOT holds a lien on the boats. I figure that the first two lien holders will recoup most of their investment leaving the HDOT (and Hawaii’s taxpayers/harbor users) holding the bag.
On a related note,I would bet Young Brothers, Matson, and all the cruise ships have done far more environmental damage than the HSF would ever do. However none of the latter services has received such a negative backlash as the HSF did. This shows that all the HSF opponents are bunch of hypocrites. If MauiBrad or Joan Conrow really cared about the environment they would be going after Matson,Young Brothers with the same tenacity as they did against the Hawaii Superferry.
Sandwich Isles Communications has complained that they’ve been denied access to Hawaiian Telcom’s financial data. However their financial information is sealed under protected order.This is an absolutely travesty as they are receiving taxpayer funding for their operations.I hope Sandwich Isles is forced by the bankruptcy court judge to reveal about their operations if their proposal to buy Hawaiian Telcom moves forward.
Hat tip to Kohala News for interviewing councilman Dominic Yagong about the recent Hawaii County Council coup.
Lastly, it seems the worst case scenario has unfolded regarding the State of Hawaii furloughing workers.
Spot on re: Joan & her psuedo-treehuggers on Kauai.
Aaron,
Re: “I figure that the first two lien holders will recoup most of their investment leaving the HDOT (and Hawaii’s taxpayers/harbor users) holding the bag.”
The second lienholder was Austal and they have already written the secured loan to HSF off as a total loss, although their business is actually better off, for now. The State is the third lienholder. They won’t loose much on it, they’ll just charge other harbor users like YB and Matson the difference, for what were the Administration’s mistakes.
Re: “On a related note, I would bet Young Brothers, Matson, and all the cruise ships have done far more environmental damage than the HSF would ever do. However none of the latter services has received such a negative backlash as the HSF did. This shows that all the HSF opponents are bunch of hypocrites. If MauiBrad or Joan Conrow really cared about the environment they would be going after Matson,Young Brothers with the same tenacity as they did against the Hawaii Superferry.”
HSF didn’t operate long enough for us to compare or know the effects. I’m just not as inspired to take the time on YB or Matson. They aren’t putting themselves out there with a story that is clearly and patently false.
I have to say that I do feel a little sorry for JFL. As it stands now, their losses are greater than anybody else on this. They may still be able to make much of that back, but as it stands now, it’s an unexpected loss on their part and every bit a modern day Greek tragedy.
First you say “I would bet…” and speculate about something. Then you use that thing that you just made up to say “This shows…” as if you had proved something. Then you say “… that all…” as if the thing you made up applies to an entire class of people.
I would bet that the Hawaii Superferry would allow roving gangs of zombies to move freely between the islands. But you never wrote _anything_ about zombie defense on your blog. This shows that all Hawaii Superferry supporters were hypocrites who never really were willing to think through the issues.
Aaron- I’ll say this both the supporters and the opponents of the HSF were hypocrites. The supporters failed to see that the proper entitlement process was followed. However the opponents are hypocrites too as they made a huge issue of the HSF while there is cruise ships, YB, Matson which have caused equal environmental damage.
I suggest that to avoid accusations of hypocrisy, you not invite “Comments” and then delete comments that use the exact construction you used to disagree with you.
Aaron- I was sleeping when you made this comment. Then I was at work from 6am-1130am. After that I went shopping. Thus I didn’t get home until just awhile ago.
Say a business person can’t put up a building because he doesn’t have a permit; Is this the fault of anti-development activists? Or is it the fault of the builder for not following the protocals?
The HSF situation IS a fiasco, but it’s too easy to blame the people who watch out for the Aina, while sympathizing with the greedy corporations trying to cut corners.