http://www.westhawaiitoday.com/articles/2007/10/24/local/local02.txt
http://starbulletin.com/2007/10/24/news/story02.html
Aloha, Brad
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
HI Superferry: Article on Maui Hearings
Good article about the Maui hearings.
http://www.mauinews.com/news/2007/10/23/01Impa1023.html
Aloha, Brad
http://www.mauinews.com/news/2007/10/23/01Impa1023.html
Aloha, Brad
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
HI Superferry: Regarding their Bond Financing
Good article on the Superferry bonds:
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071022/NEWS01/710220362/1001/NEWS01
Aloha, Brad
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071022/NEWS01/710220362/1001/NEWS01
Aloha, Brad
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
HI Superferry: Speaker Say Already Has a Conflict of Interest
Speaker Say's conflict of interest is not with his vote
by Larry Geller
Today's Advertiser story Say brings up son's Superferry employment adds one more layer to the problems with a special legislative session to exempt the Superferry from protective environmental regulations.
State House Speaker Calvin Say's son was one of the 249 Hawaii Superferry workers furloughed last week, and Say said he would ask his colleagues whether he has a conflict of interest before voting on any Superferry legislation in a possible special session.
The article stopped short of exploring the extent of Say's entanglement with the ferry company. Not only was his son employed by the company, Say himself was the recipient of the largest share of Superferry handouts in the Legislature.
If Superferry legislation comes before the House in special session — or in the next regular session — the speaker said he would step down from presiding over the House and ask the vice speaker whether he has a conflict.
The conflict already exists because Say has been pushing for a special session.
If Say calls a special session after the revelation that his son was (and would again be) a Superferry employee and after accepting campaign contributions from the company, it doesn't matter whether he presides or votes. He'll have repaid the company's investment in him.
Wouldn't it have been refreshing if Say (and others) had refused money coming from the Superferry company? But they didn't.
Permalink posted by Larry @ 2:39 PM
by Larry Geller
Today's Advertiser story Say brings up son's Superferry employment adds one more layer to the problems with a special legislative session to exempt the Superferry from protective environmental regulations.
State House Speaker Calvin Say's son was one of the 249 Hawaii Superferry workers furloughed last week, and Say said he would ask his colleagues whether he has a conflict of interest before voting on any Superferry legislation in a possible special session.
The article stopped short of exploring the extent of Say's entanglement with the ferry company. Not only was his son employed by the company, Say himself was the recipient of the largest share of Superferry handouts in the Legislature.
If Superferry legislation comes before the House in special session — or in the next regular session — the speaker said he would step down from presiding over the House and ask the vice speaker whether he has a conflict.
The conflict already exists because Say has been pushing for a special session.
If Say calls a special session after the revelation that his son was (and would again be) a Superferry employee and after accepting campaign contributions from the company, it doesn't matter whether he presides or votes. He'll have repaid the company's investment in him.
Wouldn't it have been refreshing if Say (and others) had refused money coming from the Superferry company? But they didn't.
Permalink posted by Larry @ 2:39 PM
Monday, October 15, 2007
HI Superferry...Would Lose Money w/Private Sector Business Only
The activists on Kauai helped me find the following.
It is a thumbnail income statement on the Superferry
based on information disclosed in the recent court case.
Larry's got a great blog on this.
From: http://disappearednews.com/
Monday, October 15, 2007
Superferry as Trojan horse
by Larry Geller
Why didn't I think of that? Joan Conrow's post today on KauaiEclectic, Musings: Ferry Fiascos, describes ferry disasters in other places such as Vancouver, BC. Please read her entire article, but here is the closing paragraph:
These scenarios could be flukes in the ferry world, or cautionary red flags that we might want to consider. Of course, it’s hard to know, without a full Environmental Impact Statement, whether Hawaii Superferry is a true gift, or a Trojan horse.
Trojan horse! That's the phrase my brain could not come up with the other day when I wrote about how the Superferry may be coming here as a civilian vehicle but may have a larger military purpose.
How can we tell if the Superferry is really a military operation? Short of being a fly on the wall or an NSA phone tapper, we can't know what secret talks have been held. But should the ferry ply our waters at a loss, it's a hint that the money will be coming from somewhere.
Earlier I did a back-of-the-envelope calculation on how profitable the ferry could be. But here is another, and better, analysis done by Prof. Dick Mayer that has been circulating via email. Follow along and see how the Superferry could well operate at a loss for the civilian portion of its business. I'll come back at the end with my take on the numbers.
Ok, here are the estimates (paraphrasing the original email):
Revenues
According to the company, they expect an average load of about 400 people, and 110 vehicles per trip.
400 passengers x $72 = $28,800 110 vehicles x $65 = $7,150
Total $35,950 per trip
Total trips scheduled per week 26
Therefore estimated revenue per Superferry would be $35,950 x 26 = $934,700 per week.
Expenses
John Garibaldi, Superferry's president and chief executive, stated that the weekly operating cost while the ship is idle and docked at Honolulu Harbor is $650,000 per week.
The current price for marine diesel fuel in Honolulu is $740/metric ton or at least $2.07 per gallon.
If fuel consumption per one way trip is about 6,600 gallons, Kauai or Maui, so the average fuel cost (one way trip) is 6,600 x $2.07 = $13,662 At 26 trips per week x $13,662 = $355,212 per week for fuel.
So the operating cost including fuel would be $1,005,212 per week.
Oops.
So based on Superferry's projected load factors, there is an operating loss of $70,512 per week, or $3,666,624 per year.
Even today, a few million bucks is real money. How could the Superferry break even or turn a profit? You got it—pick up that military business.
Or raise fares, of course. Since I can't rent a car at the other end of a ferry ride, I would probably stick with cheaper air fares if the ferry charges too much.
Or maybe civilian passengers aren't the point here. If it's aTrojan horse, then maybe this whole thing is just a way to get those presumably lucrative military contracts. A Pacific Business News article from 2004 (yes, three years ago) revealed that part of the business model was to
Seek defense business, hauling vehicles between islands at night for military exercises. The ferries are being built with specially reinforced vehicle decks especially for this, though the reinforcement also means that big rigs can be driven onto the ferries and it won't matter in which lane they park.
If the Legislature let's them in without restrictions, Strykers will have a new way to get around, but we may not. The Superferry is made for them, as the article reveals.
It is a thumbnail income statement on the Superferry
based on information disclosed in the recent court case.
Larry's got a great blog on this.
From: http://disappearednews.com/
Monday, October 15, 2007
Superferry as Trojan horse
by Larry Geller
Why didn't I think of that? Joan Conrow's post today on KauaiEclectic, Musings: Ferry Fiascos, describes ferry disasters in other places such as Vancouver, BC. Please read her entire article, but here is the closing paragraph:
These scenarios could be flukes in the ferry world, or cautionary red flags that we might want to consider. Of course, it’s hard to know, without a full Environmental Impact Statement, whether Hawaii Superferry is a true gift, or a Trojan horse.
Trojan horse! That's the phrase my brain could not come up with the other day when I wrote about how the Superferry may be coming here as a civilian vehicle but may have a larger military purpose.
How can we tell if the Superferry is really a military operation? Short of being a fly on the wall or an NSA phone tapper, we can't know what secret talks have been held. But should the ferry ply our waters at a loss, it's a hint that the money will be coming from somewhere.
Earlier I did a back-of-the-envelope calculation on how profitable the ferry could be. But here is another, and better, analysis done by Prof. Dick Mayer that has been circulating via email. Follow along and see how the Superferry could well operate at a loss for the civilian portion of its business. I'll come back at the end with my take on the numbers.
Ok, here are the estimates (paraphrasing the original email):
Revenues
According to the company, they expect an average load of about 400 people, and 110 vehicles per trip.
400 passengers x $72 = $28,800 110 vehicles x $65 = $7,150
Total $35,950 per trip
Total trips scheduled per week 26
Therefore estimated revenue per Superferry would be $35,950 x 26 = $934,700 per week.
Expenses
John Garibaldi, Superferry's president and chief executive, stated that the weekly operating cost while the ship is idle and docked at Honolulu Harbor is $650,000 per week.
The current price for marine diesel fuel in Honolulu is $740/metric ton or at least $2.07 per gallon.
If fuel consumption per one way trip is about 6,600 gallons, Kauai or Maui, so the average fuel cost (one way trip) is 6,600 x $2.07 = $13,662 At 26 trips per week x $13,662 = $355,212 per week for fuel.
So the operating cost including fuel would be $1,005,212 per week.
Oops.
So based on Superferry's projected load factors, there is an operating loss of $70,512 per week, or $3,666,624 per year.
Even today, a few million bucks is real money. How could the Superferry break even or turn a profit? You got it—pick up that military business.
Or raise fares, of course. Since I can't rent a car at the other end of a ferry ride, I would probably stick with cheaper air fares if the ferry charges too much.
Or maybe civilian passengers aren't the point here. If it's aTrojan horse, then maybe this whole thing is just a way to get those presumably lucrative military contracts. A Pacific Business News article from 2004 (yes, three years ago) revealed that part of the business model was to
Seek defense business, hauling vehicles between islands at night for military exercises. The ferries are being built with specially reinforced vehicle decks especially for this, though the reinforcement also means that big rigs can be driven onto the ferries and it won't matter in which lane they park.
If the Legislature let's them in without restrictions, Strykers will have a new way to get around, but we may not. The Superferry is made for them, as the article reveals.
HI Superferry Great Article
Great web page and article on the HI Superferry:
http://www.5thrunwaycafe.com/superferry/legislators-push-hawaii-ferry-probe
Aloha, Brad
http://www.5thrunwaycafe.com/superferry/legislators-push-hawaii-ferry-probe
Aloha, Brad
HI Superferry Good Commentary
By trying to move the issue of the HI Superferry from the learned judgement of the courts to a Special Session of the Legislature, Linda Lingle seeks to rely upon the "tyranny of the majority" population of Oahu versus what should be the "Home Rule" of Kauai and Maui to determine what happens on their own islands. That's what this would be in the Legislature...
"the tyranny of the majority of Oahu against the pono home rule of Maui and Kauai."--Brad
That is my commentary.
Here is some more good commentary:
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Oct/15/op/hawaii710150316.html
Aloha, Brad
"the tyranny of the majority of Oahu against the pono home rule of Maui and Kauai."--Brad
That is my commentary.
Here is some more good commentary:
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Oct/15/op/hawaii710150316.html
Aloha, Brad
HI Superferry: Conditions to Operate
Until an EIS is completed and approved:
First, the Superferry should not be allowed to operate between the Hawaiian islands any faster than 15 knots per hour.
Second, until an EIS is completed the Superferry should be a POFF which is an industry standard that means Passenger Only Fast Ferry. Vehicles should not be allowed to go interisland on the HI Superferry until the EIS is completed. If cars are allowed then there has to be a high powered undercarriage wash of each vehicle at the harbor before it boards the ferry.
Third, the Superferry should not be allowed to dump its refuse in Hawaiian waters.
Fourth, "Martial Law" in Nawiliwili Harbor should be lifted and the canoe clubs there and the canoe clubs in Kahului Harbor should be allowed to operate uninterrupted under their prior schedules.
These are the conditions, HI Superferry, take it or leave it!
Aloha, Brad
First, the Superferry should not be allowed to operate between the Hawaiian islands any faster than 15 knots per hour.
Second, until an EIS is completed the Superferry should be a POFF which is an industry standard that means Passenger Only Fast Ferry. Vehicles should not be allowed to go interisland on the HI Superferry until the EIS is completed. If cars are allowed then there has to be a high powered undercarriage wash of each vehicle at the harbor before it boards the ferry.
Third, the Superferry should not be allowed to dump its refuse in Hawaiian waters.
Fourth, "Martial Law" in Nawiliwili Harbor should be lifted and the canoe clubs there and the canoe clubs in Kahului Harbor should be allowed to operate uninterrupted under their prior schedules.
These are the conditions, HI Superferry, take it or leave it!
Aloha, Brad
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Superferry: John Lehman...sell it to the Navy or Army!
Today, John Lehman was quoted for the first time in a while in the Honolulu papers saying something like the HI Superferry are reviewing their options and that a lot of other places would love to have a unique boat like this. Mr. Lehman, you have the contacts...just sell it to the Navy or Army at a little mark-up. That's who you wanted to use it anyway. There are fast ferries already operating along the East Coast. It could be used for troop transport along the eastern seaboard. I am sure the Navy or Army can pay you what you need for it. Use your contacts, Mr. Lehman. Maybe Inouye can help facilitate the DoD buying it. I'm sure they've got the money...they're spending multiple times your cost every day in Iraq. Aloha, Brad
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Superferry Lingle declines to accept petition
Superferry Lingle declines to accept petition
There is also good information here about fast ferry effects between Tahiti and Mo'orea:
http://www.haleakalatimes.com/news/story2214.aspx
Why wouldn't the governor or a senior staffer just accept the petition???
Aloha, Brad
There is also good information here about fast ferry effects between Tahiti and Mo'orea:
http://www.haleakalatimes.com/news/story2214.aspx
Why wouldn't the governor or a senior staffer just accept the petition???
Aloha, Brad
Superferry: Repeal Security Zone for Kauai’s Harbor
Superferry: Repeal Security Zone for Kauai’s Harbor
http://www.superferryimpact.com/images/PETITION-TO-REPEAL-RULE.doc
This is unfinished business. This Security Zone in Nawiliwili Harbor has to be repealed. Why the f**k should canoe clubs not be allowed to practice after certain hours?!! The Superferry's agreement with the state is now "null and void!"
Also, Ka'iulani's LA Times article for background:
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-na-kauai9oct09,1,1110980.story?track=rss&ctrack=1&cset=true
Aloha, Brad
http://www.superferryimpact.com/images/PETITION-TO-REPEAL-RULE.doc
This is unfinished business. This Security Zone in Nawiliwili Harbor has to be repealed. Why the f**k should canoe clubs not be allowed to practice after certain hours?!! The Superferry's agreement with the state is now "null and void!"
Also, Ka'iulani's LA Times article for background:
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-na-kauai9oct09,1,1110980.story?track=rss&ctrack=1&cset=true
Aloha, Brad
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
HI Superferry....No means NO!
The problem is that the Superferry's speed is incompatable with the whale sanctuary here...there are 5000 humpback whales in immediate Hawaiian water in the winter. There would be NO way the Superferry could avoid hitting them. The Superferry does NOT belong here at all.
I suggest they try to move to somewhere like Seattle.
Aloha, Brad
I suggest they try to move to somewhere like Seattle.
Aloha, Brad
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Superferry NO!...Thank you Judge Cardoza
Judge Blocks Superferry From Maui
Written by KGMB9 News
Monday, October 08, 2007 12:01 PM
It's a no-go for the Hawaii Superferry.
That's the ruling this morning from Judge Joseph Cardoza, who has blocked the high-speed vessel from sailing to Maui until the Department of Transporation prepares a legally acceptable environmental assessment.
Cardoza also ruled the operating agreement between the Superferry and the State is null and void.
Last Updated ( Tuesday, October 09, 2007 12:09 PM )
Written by KGMB9 News
Monday, October 08, 2007 12:01 PM
It's a no-go for the Hawaii Superferry.
That's the ruling this morning from Judge Joseph Cardoza, who has blocked the high-speed vessel from sailing to Maui until the Department of Transporation prepares a legally acceptable environmental assessment.
Cardoza also ruled the operating agreement between the Superferry and the State is null and void.
Last Updated ( Tuesday, October 09, 2007 12:09 PM )
Friday, October 5, 2007
HI Superferry and "15 knots" in court yesterday...
The Superferry and "15 knots" in court yesterday...
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Oct/05/ln/hawaii710050374.html
Posted on: Friday, October 5, 2007
Hawaii Superferry warns it must sail soon
By Christie Wilson, Advertiser Neighbor Island Editor
Quoting from the above article:
"NEED FOR SPEED
Garibaldi testified that if allowed by Cardoza to resume service, the company would accept a court condition to adopt the practices during the entire time it takes the state to complete the assessment, not just during whale season. But he said the Hawaii Superferry would not be able to work with a court-imposed speed restriction of 15 knots, in the range recommended by marine mammal experts to reduce the risk of whale strikes and the severity of injuries to any animals that are hit.
The company tariff approved by the state Public Utilities Commission set a schedule of one daily roundtrip each between Honolulu and Maui, and Honolulu and Kaua'i. The sailing time for each one-way leg is set at three hours.
Garibaldi said the schedule was based on the ferry's cruising speed of 37 knots, or about 43 mph.
If forced to slow to 15 knots, Garibaldi said the company would not be in compliance with its tariff, and would not be able to make its two daily roundtrips. "Our business plan wouldn't be a viable business plan," he said."
And another place that 10 to 15 knots speed limit has recently shown up: http://www.saveourseas.org/SlowOurSuperferry.htm
I'll just comment what should be obvious. The PUC can approve a different tariff and travel schedule for the HI Superferry. A 15 knots speed limit is an outstanding idea that the judge could use, and that is precisely why Garibaldi felt compelled to comment on it now.
Aloha, Brad
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Oct/05/ln/hawaii710050374.html
Posted on: Friday, October 5, 2007
Hawaii Superferry warns it must sail soon
By Christie Wilson, Advertiser Neighbor Island Editor
Quoting from the above article:
"NEED FOR SPEED
Garibaldi testified that if allowed by Cardoza to resume service, the company would accept a court condition to adopt the practices during the entire time it takes the state to complete the assessment, not just during whale season. But he said the Hawaii Superferry would not be able to work with a court-imposed speed restriction of 15 knots, in the range recommended by marine mammal experts to reduce the risk of whale strikes and the severity of injuries to any animals that are hit.
The company tariff approved by the state Public Utilities Commission set a schedule of one daily roundtrip each between Honolulu and Maui, and Honolulu and Kaua'i. The sailing time for each one-way leg is set at three hours.
Garibaldi said the schedule was based on the ferry's cruising speed of 37 knots, or about 43 mph.
If forced to slow to 15 knots, Garibaldi said the company would not be in compliance with its tariff, and would not be able to make its two daily roundtrips. "Our business plan wouldn't be a viable business plan," he said."
And another place that 10 to 15 knots speed limit has recently shown up: http://www.saveourseas.org/SlowOurSuperferry.htm
I'll just comment what should be obvious. The PUC can approve a different tariff and travel schedule for the HI Superferry. A 15 knots speed limit is an outstanding idea that the judge could use, and that is precisely why Garibaldi felt compelled to comment on it now.
Aloha, Brad
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