hawaii superferry - a ship captain’s perspective

Photos

hawaii superferry - a ship mariner’s perspective

see larger image

uploaded by unofficialsquaw.com

A ferry at the center of much debate (including a record number of comments on my Mariner's blog) has sailed into a
storm that will likely sink her dream. The problem came Tuesday after Maui Judge
Joseph Cardoza ruled against Hawaii Superferry resuming service to Maui until an
environmental assessment is performed.

While the Department of Transportation took quick action last week in
selecting engineering firm Belt Collins
to conduct the $1 million dollar plus assessment, it could still take several
months to be completed exposing the Superferry to estimated losses of $650,000
per month in the duration. Superferry president and CEO John Garibaldi stated
the loss of time and revenue would be too much for the company to survive.
Yesterday Garibaldi announced “with a heavy heart” the company would immediately lay off 249 employees;
36 on Maui, 35 on Kauai and 178 on Oahu, keeping just 59 workers on the job to
handle administrative and operational duties.

The maritime world was quick to show it’s disappointment in the ruling with
Maritime Executive editor Joseph Keefe contributing the most intelligent
comments on the topic in an article titled “Profiles in Stupidity: Hawaii Superferry Idled by
Courts“. In the paragraph that’s at the heart of the commentary Keefe
states;

The situation in Hawaii is not unique, however. It plays itself out all over
the fruited plain, every day. There hasn’t been a refinery built in this country
for more than three decades despite a clear and present need for more refining
capacity. We continue to be held hostage to a trade deficit that hinges largely
on energy imports because we don’t have the intestinal fortitude to drill for
the domestic oil and gas that we know is available, here and now. The same
Congress that considers drilling (in the Arctic or the Gulf of Mexico) a
sacrilege, at the same time extends MFN (Most Favored Nation) status to
countries that deliver toxic products to our shores. And just across the Rio
Grande, our NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) partners spill their
bile from factories that would never pass environmental muster in the most lax
state in the union.

So what exactly do the anti-ferry activists considerer the problem? In a set
of comments posted to our previous supperferry blog post savekahuluiharbor.com
blogger Karen Chun sums up the opposition’s feeling;

I think what you are seeing is a tremendous culture clash between what has
been described as “the American Dream” (e.g. work hard and make a lot of money)
and the Hawaiian culture which is embodied in our state motto: “Ua mau ka ea o
ka ‘aina i ka pono”.

As with all Hawaiian sayings this has meaning on many levels but best
translated to: “The life of the land continues (is preserved) by doing the right
thing (harmony with correct behavior)”

So we have people who see the land as something that they use (up) to create
their dream of monetary prosperity coming to a place where the land is seen as
something to be preserved in its natural state and where the measure of success
is not monetary but how you live your life in harmony with the virtues of
ha’aha’a (humbleness), lokahi (unity) and aloha (a VERY misused word that I
won’t even attempt to explain.

(read her full comment HERE)

While I do believe her statement is genuine I suspect the true problem lays
with theory stated by Thomas Friedman in his book The
World is Flat. Friedman believes that exponential technical advances of the
digital revolution that have made it possible to do business, or almost anything
else, instantaneously with billions of other people across the planet. This
means the loss of jobs for many Americans but also the potential for wealth and
geographical freedom for a smaller set of entrepreneurs. Combined with more
effective means of transportation, which the ferry hoped to provide, these
factors are enabling an increasing number of the second set to relocate
west.

I have thought about this topic for some time. Working aboard ships worldwide
and blogging online bring me the financial and geographical freedom to move to
Hawaii so when a friend visited Maui a few months back her question seemed
obvious. She asked “Maui is the most beautiful place I have ever visited. If you
can live anywhere and afford the prices why not move?” My answer was simple; “It
just takes too much time traveling home to see relatives.” The ferry helps solve
this problem and therefore helps more families like ours make the decision to
relocate to an island considered by locals as over crowded. If my assessment is
right I understand the concern. The weather, natural beauty and opposition to
development were the key factors in my family’s decision to move from Manhattan
to Morro Bay California.

In addition to Keefe’s article there is one more factor that supports his
opinion; history. To make a proper assessment of the situation we need to ask
locals who have been though the fight. The following is a reply to Chun’s
comment from Canary Islands resident Ricard Sala;

Hello everyone!!

Well I have never written in this blog I would like to add my 5 cents worth…I
am not in any way in the merchant marine nor do I live in Hawaii. I am a pilot,
live in Switzerland but I spent most of my youth in the Canary Islands and that
is were my oipinion comes in.
The canary islands might be the closets
geographical thing to the hawaiian islands there are in the world, 7 islands
isolated from the mainland and underinvested for many years. We started in late
80’s with our own regional airline and years later the sole ferry company(which
undeserved the market) was joined by FRed Olsen and their fast ferries. That
alone opened up a whole world of possibilities for many people to travel, and we
are talking here about people with no or very little money as well as large
groups, students, schools on day trips, the daily crossings from Gran Canaria to
Tenerife became part of he local scenery, it not only represented a boost to the
local economies (from the opening of restaurants, to the hiring of the catering
crew) but eventually it meant investment on the roads as well.
Now, I do not
know local politics and as i sais I do not know the in and out, but, it seems to
me a case on “not in my backyard” and manipulated people by local interests
(probably airlines)…
If you were today to ask any canarian their opinion
about the ferry I think it would be hard to find a single anti-ferry person.

Well that is it, just my opinion folks…

Cheers everyone!!

My assessment… Keefe is spot on. Your thoughts?

Read the original story in its entirety:  hawaii superferry - a ship captain’s perspective

John Konrad is a USCG licensed Master Mariner of Unlimited Tonnage
currently working as Chief Mate aboard a 835′ship in the Gulf of Mexico. Since
graduating from SUNY Maritime College he has sailed 4 of the world’s oceans
and reports from his ship via satellite. He is also co-founder and CEO of gCaptain, a site for maritime proffesionals.