HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

99

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

requesting the expeditious consideration OF any REQUIRED certification by the public UTILITIES commission and of Hawaii superferry, inc.'s application for a title xi GUARANTEE commitment from the uNITED sTATES maritime administration for the construction and permanent financing of the fast ferry vessels.

 

WHEREAS, Hawaii is the world's only major island archipelago without an interisland ferry system; and

WHEREAS, the Hawaii market is ideal for fast vehicle and passenger ferries with its 1,300,000 residents, seven million tourists annually and the worlds' highest ratio of vehicles-to-population; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii Superferry, Inc. plans to introduce fast, low-cost interisland roll-on/roll-off passenger and freight ferry service within the Hawaiian Islands in 2006; and

WHEREAS, the fast ferry vessels planned to be used by Hawaii Superferry, Inc. have a proven record of transportation, medical evacuation, provision of food, water, shelter, and other civil defense support in times of natural disasters and disruptions in transportation systems throughout the world; and

WHEREAS, current technology hybrid catamarans have replaced other technologies throughout the world as the vessel of choice for fast, short-distance ocean travel and have over fifteen years of proven ocean-going service; and

WHEREAS, the proposed interisland vehicle and passenger ferries will stimulate Hawaii's economy through the creation of approximately one thousand jobs, grow the annual state gross domestic product by up to $1,000,000,000, lower the cost of living for residents, and reduce the reliance of residents on a single mode of transportation; and

WHEREAS, there is currently available in excess of $25,000,000 of federal funds for the development of ferry infrastructure specifically for the State of Hawaii; and

WHEREAS, the State of Hawaii has built a ferry terminal on Oahu using federal funds specifically for the development of ferry infrastructure; and

WHEREAS, interisland family travel, such as visiting friends and relatives, has become very costly, and as a result, less frequent; and

WHEREAS, a ten-year study by the United States Department of Transportation on the impact of Southwest Airlines, the leading low-cost airline in the United States, on one hundred sixty domestic city-pairs shows that demand doubles when airfares are reduced by forty-three per cent; and

WHEREAS, the proposed pricing of the interisland fast ferry will make visiting relatives and friends more affordable; and

WHEREAS, Oahu-based Army and Marine Corps units' requirements for Big Island training is increasing, and the fast ferry service will allow increased training at a lower cost and improve the readiness of our troops; and

WHEREAS, the vessels that will be used by Hawaii Superferry, Inc. are environmentally friendly; and

WHEREAS, the Hawaii Superferry, Inc. vessels will use the cleanest and most energy efficient marine engines in the world and will exceed the strict new 2007 United States Environmental Protection Agency emissions requirements and burn fuel one hundred times cleaner than conventional ships; and

WHEREAS, the Hawaii Superferry, Inc. whale avoidance policy is five hundred per cent stricter than required by the National Humpback Whale Sanctuary and its routes concentrate in deep waters where less than one per cent of whales congregate and its routes are changed during whale seasons and dedicated whale lookouts and technology are used to avoid the few whales in the deep waters; and

WHEREAS, the Hawaii Superferry Inc. vessels will have holding tanks containing one hundred per cent of the wastewater which will be pumped to sewage systems in Honolulu for processing and will have ultra-low-flow vacuum toilets and other water conserving devices; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2004, the Senate concurring, that the Legislature requests expeditious consideration of any required certification by the Public Utilities Commission, and of Hawaii Superferry, Inc.'s application for a Title XI guarantee commitment from the United States Maritime Administration for the construction and permanent financing of the fast ferry vessels; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Hawaii's congressional delegation is urged to request the United States Maritime Administration to expeditiously consider Hawaii Superferry, Inc.'s application for a Title XI guarantee commitment for the financing of the fast ferry vessels; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chairman of the Public Utilities Commission, the Secretary of the United States Department of Transportation, and to the members of Hawaii's congressional delegation.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Hawaii Superferry, Inc.; Construction and Permanent Financing