According to the Honolulu Advertiser:
And from Andy Parx at Got Windmills
Fargo, after mentioning that the military might want to lease the Alakai, addressed speculation by some activists who have opposed the project that Superferry was designed from the start as a military operation.
“I want to make one thing perfectly clear because this has been misunderstood from the get-go. All these theories that it had something to do with the military are bogus,” he said. “We wouldn’t have painted, branded, and carpeted (the ship), put 831 first-class seats and spent all this money if we wanted to lease it to the military. " [emphasis added]
"Of course- how could we have been so blind? All we had to do was look at the paint job. It was right on the boat... “Hawai`i Superferry”. obviously if it were really for military use it would have said “War Ship Prototype- Military Boondoggle”."Andy Parx does a hilarious sendup on Fargo simultaneously saying that Superferry was going off to do military contracting and that the Superferry was never designed to do military contracting because it has a pretty paint job, carpeting and seats.
"We who thought there was ever any connection between the Hawai`i Superferry Inc. and the military simply made the common mistake of believing’ our own lyin’ eyes instead of the words of those always trustworthy PR hacks"
We hesitate to say this as it might interfere with Superferry getting a military contract and going away, but the one-year shakedown test of this Joint High Speed Military Vessel shows that the thin alumninum hull can not stand up to the Hawai'i interisland channels, given its problems with cracks and unexpected repairs.
4 comments:
Andy Parx's article is funny. But you need to know he's all bent out of shape over Mander and Paik's Superferry Chronicles book because he thinks it slights him? Kaua'i(?) Not sure why he's up at arms over it. He was tearing the Maui protestors to pieces for not committing civil disobedience, so you have to take his feuds with a grain of salt.
Koohan Paik and Jerry Mander writing in Coup de Superferry say:
"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)."
The New York Times article says:
Nearly two years ago, a former chief executive officer of Austal USA, an Alabama shipyard that built the Alakai, was quoted in a local weekly, Pacific Business News, as saying the ship was too big for its market of 1.3 million people.
“I just worry about getting enough business to cover costs because of the sheer size of it,” said the executive, Alan Lerchbacker.
Mr. Lerchbacker said that he had suggested Hawaii Superferry order a 230-foot vessel but that the company instead ordered two 350-foot models.
... “You look at the players involved,” Ms. Morita said. “You have to question their motives.”
In November, Austal USA was awarded a contract to build up to 10 military versions of the ferry.
... but the United States requires that all ships sold to its armed forces must be domestically built.
Austal USA, with a shipyard in Mobile, Ala., was created in 2001. “They have managed to become a major player in a very short time,” said Robert Button, a naval analyst with the RAND Corporation.
Austal USA’s vice president for external affairs, Bill Pfister, said that while the company had built several smaller ships in Mobile, the construction of the two Hawaii ferries had helped it develop the work force and demonstrate the construction processes to bid credibly for a similar military version.
The contract calls for one ship for the Army, with an option for four more for the Army and five for the Navy, for a total of $1.6 billion.
“Building the Superferry was very helpful in demonstrating that we can build these ships in the United States as well as Australia,” Mr. Pfister said.
But how does Austal getting the 1.6 billion dollar contract help John F. Lehman?
See Mobile Shipyard Purchase Expected
"Friday, July 21, 2006
According to the Mobile Register, a former secretary of the U.S. Navy, John Lehman, is negotiating to buy one of Mobile's two largest shipyards, Atlantic Marine officials confirmed Wednesday. Lehman's New York-based firm, J.F. Lehman & Co., is expected to complete the purchase of Atlantic Marine Holding Co. within a few weeks...The company owns about 650 acres in Mobile and has several tenants that lease property, including Austal USA"
and this tidbit:
"Austal is also an equity partner in the superferry company, providing $17 million in subordinated notes, or loans that are paid only after certain other obligations are met. "
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