Friday, October 26, 2007
Who voted for or against the House Superferry bill
Following the form of the previous post, here's the tally from the Capitol website. I hope I haven't gotten anyone in the wrong column—if so, someone please let me know.
I indicated those who voted "Yes With Reservations" by WR, even if they voted "Yes" later on the House floor.
Rep. Morita gets an extra Happy Whale (she deserves many more!) for introducing her amendment and for her floor speeches.
I've also awarded a couple of extra Harpooned Whales: Reps. Calvin Say, Joseph Souki, Cynthia Thielen, and Dwight Takamine each get an extra Harpooned Whale for having appeared on the Advertiser's list of politicians who received Superferry-related campaign contributions and now voting for this bill.
Those who voted against it get the Happy Whales.
Can you please report to us (because it is missing or has disappeared) the number of time any of our shipping traffic between Oahu, Kauai and Maui has a whale been hit by a large vessel the size or bigger than the superferry? Please? I just want to see proof for the claims that it will kill or runover a whale. Because I have not ever heard of it ever happening here. Keep the facts...not opinions.
: October 29, 2007 at 12:24:00 PM HST I certainly haven't heard of whale hits. It's a reasonable question. On the other hand, shipping between Oahu and Neighbor Islands on slow barges is not likely to kill even a minnow.
I think I know where you're going with the question, but for facts, try these (Googled, may not be completely up to date but won't be far off):
Together, Young Brothers and Hawaiian Tug & Barge operate a fleet of 10 barges and 13 tugs. The equipment list includes:
Catherine Foss, a 1,800-horsepower, twin-screw tug
Eleu, a 2,800-horsepower tractor tug
Mahi, a 1,800-horsepower, twin screw tug
Mamo, a 3,300-horsepower, tractor tug
Martha Foss, a 1,200-horsepower, steerable kort tug
Mikiala II, a 3,300-horsepower tractor tug
Momi, a 1,800-horsepower, twin screw tug
Billie K, a barge with a 5,000-ton capacity
A number of barges can be seen off of Waikiki each day headed -- slowly -- for other islands. I know of no vessel engaged in interisland shipping the size or speed of the Superferry. If any reader of these comments does, please enlighten us.
I recently watched the National Geographic Channel on Oceanic Cable. They had an hour long documentary on the building of the Hawaii Superferry, which is based on a European design from Norway to operated at high speed in very rugh waters. The ship also has jet thrusters, not propellers, around the hull, enabling to turn and stop on a dime. They claim no incidents of collisions with marine life (in a geographic area well known to have a high number of marine mamals). It was a very interesting documentary that answered a lot of questions.
The video may be availble at nationalgeographic.com
Perhaps someone can look into this and find out more of this Norway superferry and see what their safety record is in regards to this issue. Im sure with more research, the truth can be told.
: November 4, 2007 at 6:59:00 AM HST << Home
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