Ferry will end fear of tugboat strikes

[urbanguy]

Ferry will end fear of tugboat strikes

Hawaii Superferry plans to carry cargo as well as people and vehicles when it begins service in late 2006.

ANXIETY experienced by neighbor island residents about their supplies of rice and toilet paper and farmers worried about getting their produce to market may have disappeared for good when tugboat workers ended their four-day strike. Governor Lingle points out that interisland ferries are expected to be operating by the time the tugboat labor contract expires in four years. The ferries also will create competition that could bring prices down.

Two 345-foot catamarans capable of carrying 900 passengers and as many as 280 vehicles can carry cargo as well. During her radio talk show last week, Lingle said the ferries would move vital cargo between islands in the event of another strike. Construction began last month in Mobile, Ala., on the first of the two vessels, and trips among the four major islands are planned in late 2006.

The ferries will compete with interisland airlines for passengers and with barges for cargo. They will not be able to carry as much freight as barges, but the operators say they will be able to deliver goods faster and cheaper.

Hawaii Superferry officials Mike Fitzgerald and John Strom point out that the ferries will charge 2 cents a pound for carrying produce from one island to another, compared with 13 cents a pound charged for barge cargo. They say the ferries also will haul items that are too fragile or perishable to be carried by barge. The ferries travel about 45 mph and will be able to make trips from Oahu to Maui or Kauai in about three hours, and to Kawaihae on the Big Island in four hours.

The ferry will "positively change the equation of the competitiveness and the cost of doing business in Hawaii," Fitzgerald said last year. "It will substantially improve the movement of products and people between the islands."

Lingle said the state is undertaking the "huge challenge" of preparing docking facilities for the ferries at state harbors so cars and passengers can be loaded and unloaded from the rear, unlike cruise ships. The ferries will be able to load and unload goods side by side, using the same amount of pier space that a cruise ship would use.

[Wendell FOX]

Uh... why rice out of all foods? I can understand toilet paper being a necessity (hope they have sewage treatment over there! ) but why rice? Do all the Inuit who crossed over the Bering Strait like 10K years ago still cling to their Asian traditions?

[Wendell FOX]

Uh... why rice out of all foods? I can understand toilet paper being a necessity (hope they have sewage treatment over there! ) but why rice? Do all the Inuit who crossed over the Bering Strait like 10K years ago still cling to their Asian traditions?

I AM AN IDIOT

I just re-read the article and saw that it's about Hawaii, thought it was about Alaska for a second!

[urbanguy]

^haha its okay well to answer your question about "Rice", well Hawaii is basically foreign to the rest of the US instead of eating potatoes with nearly every meal as done on the US Mainland and in most western societies, sticky rice is the common food item and it covers all races and ethnicities its not just an Asian thing in Hawaii its mainstream and you can even order sticky rice at Mcdonalds. Hawaii's like in a league of its own when it comes to the blending of cultural traditions in mainstream society its not even funny.

[Wendell FOX]

Rice even in McDonald's? Whoa....

Actually, I thought most of the rest of the US eats a dinner roll or other piece of bread (in a sandwich) rather than potatoes usually... though I don't know, since I've been raised on an Asian/rice-based diet. As of the last few years, though, my diet has been totally screwed up lol.

[urbanguy]

^hehe well i meant like you know mash potatoes, baked potatoes, etc different ways of preparing it with meals in Hawaii in place of potatoes that you would normally use to eat with a meal in Hawaii its usually with sticky rice unless of course its like a Thanksgiving meal and the like etc

BTW you can also order Saimin at Mcdonalds in Hawaii which is similar to Ramen noodles but prepared more along the lines of Cantonese style even though "Saimin" is a Japanese name. Its a whole other world over here definately not your average American state.