• Ferry blessing Ferry blessing Hawaii Superferry took a big step forward yesterday with the blessing of the first pieces to be laid of a new high-tech aluminum hull ferry. The event took place in Mobile, Alabama with a kahu
• Ferry blessing
Ferry blessing
Hawaii Superferry took a big step forward yesterday with the blessing of the first pieces to be laid of a new high-tech aluminum hull ferry. The event took place in Mobile, Alabama with a kahu flown in from Hawai‘i for the event.
The ferry is expected to go into service in 2006 as a link between Nawiliwili and Honolulu, as well as to ports on the Big Island and Maui.
Earlier this year thousands of Kauaians turned up for a Sunday afternoon look at a prototype of the Hawai‘i ferry docked at Nawiliwili. That ferry is now in service between Rochester, New York and Ontario, Canada and is showing what Kaua‘i residents can look forward to.
Hawaii Superferry passengers will be able to take their vehicles with them to Honolulu and other islands, and pay a far that the company says will be well below the cost of an inter-island airline ticket.
There is support being shown by Grove Farm Co., with the company saying they will buy a 50 percent stake in Maui Land and Pineapple’s $1 million investment in the ferry company. The investment brings back memories of the early decades of the 20th century when Grove Farm owner and founder G.N. Wilcox had the foresight to invest in the construction of the port at Nawiliwili, and in Inter-Island Airways, the predecessor of today’s Hawaiian Airlines and the first commercial inter-island passenger air transport company in Hawai‘i.
With the welders making their first tacks on what will be the hull of the Hawai‘i ferry this is a significant day for both Hawaii Superferry and the people of Kaua‘i who may soon be benefiting from this project.
