Superferry Hits Legal Kryptonite

The Hawaii Superferry ceased services this week after an adverse reading from the state Supreme Court.

The high court ruled that a bill lawmakers passed in 2007 allowing the ferry to run while an environmental assessment is conducted violated the state constitution, according to the Associated Press.

The state had exempted the ferry from environmental review in 2005, only to have the Supreme Court rule that an environmental study was needed, prompting the 2007 legislation.

The ferry’s owners “have decided to cease operations for the present,” according to their Web site.

The ferry has linked Maui and Oahu since late 2007. The ferry was privately built and operated, but the state government supported the project through the issuance of $40 million of bonds to upgrade harbor facilities to accommodate the ferry.

From a budgetary standpoint, the bonds are designed to be repaid using harbor user fees, primarily from the ferry itself, but the debt is ultimately general obligation bonds backed with the full faith and credit of the state and were sold as part of a larger GO bond issue.

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Transportation industry
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