Posted by Free Hawai`i on March 21, 2009 at 5:30am
Superferry Chronicle Authors Paik & Mander Explain Why...the cushy federal loan guarantee for $140 million issued by the U.S. Maritime Administration, leaves the departing company in much better financial shape than if they were to continue in Hawai`i, running at a loss.But the biggest coup of all for the Superferry corporation is that it got what it needed out of the deal: to prove the boat’s seaworthiness as a demo model in competition to build the Navy’s Joint High-Speed Vessel (JHSV).Austal USA, an investor in Superferry as well as its builder, won the contract worth $1.6 billion last September to build ten JHSVs.That’s why conducting an EIS has been anathema to Superferry from the very start.Doing so would have kept the boat out of the water, and unable to prove itself against Austal USA’s competitors for the lucrative Navy contract....READ THE ENTIRE STORY HERE
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