Super Ferries - an Australian - Down Under thing - were brought in to work among the Hawaiian Islands but were stopped because of environmental reasons. They are being purchased for $5 million each by the Dept. of Defense for use in Haiti.
Although these are designed to hold compact cars as well as people, they can be reconfigured to hold only walk on passengers - and can travel up to 60 or more miles per house, meaning a trip from Atlantic City inlet to Manhattan, New York City could be made in about an hour and a half.
The current state of the art models can be environmentally safe and economically efficient. They could deliver thousands of people every day to the three inlet casinos - and jitneys waiting at the dock to take them to other destinations.
HSC Alakai
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the locality on Kauaʻi, see Alakai Wilderness Area.
The Alakai docked in Nawiliwili Harbor
Career
Name:Alakai
Owner:Hawaii Superferry (2007-2009)
U.S. Maritime Administration (2009-present)
Operator:Hawaii Superferry (2007-2009)
U.S. Maritime Administration (2009-present)
Port of registry:Honolulu, Hawaii, United States[1]
Builder:Austal USA
Cost: US$88M
Yard number: 615
Way number: 1
Laid down: June 3, 2004
Launched: January 18, 2007
Christened: April 14, 2007
Maiden voyage: August, 2007
In service: 2007
Status: In Service
General characteristics
Type: Ferry
Displacement: 1646 Tons
Length: 349 ft (106 m)
Beam: 78 ft (24 m)
Draft: 12 ft (3.7 m)
Decks: 4
Deck clearance: 14 ft (4.3 m)
Ramps: NO
Ice class: NO
Installed power: 4 x MTU-8000 diesel engines
Propulsion: 4 x Rolls-Royce KaMeWa 125MkII waterjets
Speed: 35 kn (65 km/h; 40 mph)
Capacity: 866 passengers, 282 cars
Crew: 21
The Alakai is a vessel currently owned by the U.S. Maritime Administration. It was originally the Hawaii Superferry's first high-speed ferry. In the Hawaiian language, alakai means "sea path." It should not be confused with the similar word alakaʻi, which means "leader."
Alakai is a 349-foot (106 m) long high-speed roll-on / roll-off (Ro/Ro) passenger and vehicle ferry formerly operated by Hawaii Superferry. It used to operate a daily service at a speed of 35 knots (65 km/h) between the islands of Oahu and Maui. Alakai has a capacity of 866 passengers and up to 282 subcompact cars . Alternately, its vehicle decks can be reconfigured in 5 minutes to carry up to 20 large trucks and 90 cars.
Like its sistership Huakai, the vessel features environmentally friendly technologies including non-toxic bottom paint, zero wastewater discharge and clean diesel engines.
Hawaii Superferry’s vessels are designed and built by Austal USA, a subsidiary of Austal, an Australian company that is the world's largest builder of fast ferries. Construction on the Alakai began in June 2004 in Mobile, Alabama. The ship was launched in January 2007, christened in April 2007 and sea trials went smoothly.
The Alakai during sea trials in 2007
The Alakai arrived in Honolulu on June 30, 2007 with a celebration,after a smooth 17 day delivery voyage.[5] The ship's maiden voyage was on August 26, 2007 and the trip to Maui was smooth. The voyage to Kauai was rougher and the Alakai was met by about a dozen protestors on surfboards blockading the entrance to Nawiliwili Harbor. The protestors were peacefully cleared by the Coast Guard.
On February 13, 2008 the Alakai went into dry dock in early 2008 to make repairs to its auxiliary rudders that were damaged in late January. The dry docking was extended due to hull damage caused when a tugboat moving the Alakai into dry dock lost power. Alakai returned to service in early April 2008 shortly after Aloha Airlines ended service.Before resuming service the ship went through sea trials and was re-certified by the Coast Guard.
On March 17, 2009 after about 11 months in service, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that the legislation permitting Alakai to operate without an environmental review was unconstitutional. Hawaii Superferry made one last round trip to allow an orderly return of passengers who are not on their home island. They canceled existing reservations and did not take new reservations. The Superferry company intends to look for other work for the Alakai; it also left open the possibility of bringing the ferry back into service if and when Hawaii completes an environmental review, but the company decided to abandon the vessel ending all possibilities of returning to Hawaii.
In January 2010, the U.S. Maritime Administration announced that Huakai, and Alakai would be used to assist with relief in the 2010 Haiti earthquake...
On September 13 2010, the Huakai and Alakai were auctioned off, for $25 million each, by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and they were reportedly purchased by the United States Maritime Administration.
As of December 12 2011, the Huakai and Alakai are being considered for purchase by the United States Department of Defense.
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