Well, it finally happened. The protestors got their way, and the Hawaii Superferry is no more.

Yesterday, the Hawaii Superferry set sail, leaving the State of Hawaii for good. Even as the ferry headed out to sea, there is the perhaps misguided hope that one day she will return.

After investing millions of dollars in building harbor landings on the islands of Oahu, Kauai, Maui and the Big Island, and millions developing the superferry craft to suit the waters here in the Hawaiian Islands, a small vocal minority of self-absorbed critics of the Superferry has won the day. The Hawaii Supreme Court, in it's latest vaccillation on the issue, has now decided that the Superferry did not have the right to operate while compiling its environmental impact statement.

The Superferry could not afford to sit here idle, waiting for the EIS to be completed. They could not find a suitable use for the ferry during that waiting time either. The only choice was to leave, and seek another more friendly location in which to operate.

Gone with the ferry's departure are the 276 jobs of the ferry's employees. In the short time of it's operation here, untold numbers of businesses had come to benefit on the cost savings of transporting goods between the islands. That benefit is now gone. Other businesses had begun to expand their territories to other islands, being able to simply drive onto the ferry and drive off onto another island, and return to their home base the same day. Gone. Families could afford to visit relatives on the other islands, driving their own cars and saving the cost of car rentals and the higher priced airfares. All gone.

The Superferry and its benfactors have lost, and what have the protestors gained? Some nefarious, but dubious claim that the waters are now safer for whales in the Hawaiian waters. Based on the fact that there has NEVER been a whale strike by one of these ferries anywhere in the world, I doubt the validity of this claim. They also achieved the goal of lessening the amount of traffic on their islands. The overwhelming impact of one to two hundred vehicles added to the tens of thousands already on the roads is sure to be a tremendous benefit to them. As if.

They also benefit by not having additional clients spending money at their stores, restaurants, shopping malls, etc. The main goal, of slowing down the number of visitors who might stay on their islands permanently, may also have been accomplished. After all, the protestors themselves, like the mayor of Kauai, are transplants themselves, and they know how tempting that is, since they are guilty of doing so themselves.

Well, now that their wish has come true, let's see how they live with it.

Hawaii Superferry, R.I.P.