Why aren’t there many ferries in Hawaii?

While Hawaii does have a few smaller ferries operating between some of its islands, such as Maui and Lanai, there are currently no active large (car) ferries connecting Oahu, Hawaii, and Maui. Why not? Let's find out.

We have to begin with the history of ferries in Hawaii

In the early 70s, there was a ferry system (Seaflite) active; you can see this ferry in the following old video at about 15 seconds:

In the 70s, however, the operations stopped after 2,5 years due to financial problems.

2007 to 2009: Hawaii Superferry

Another company tried this again for 2 years (however, the planning already started in 2001) from December 2007 to 2009. Just before 2009, there was a very nice Catamaran ferry called the Hawaii Superferry, which you can see in this article as a featured image. Many passengers and island inhabitants were very happy with this new ferry line, on the other side there were also protestors. At one point, the protesters formed a human chain on surfboards in front of the ferry.

The company (Hawaii Superferry) hoped to return service to Nawiliwili Harbor on Kauaʻi and also planned to provide a ferry connection to Kawaihae Harbor on the Big Island.

In 2008, the ferry company and the environmental groups returned to court on an appeal of the decision to allow the ferry to operate while the environmental study was being done. In 2009, the court ruled that it was in violation of the constitution for the Superferry to do so.[1]The History of the Ferry Service in Hawaii Since then, all operations stopped.

The challenges for ferry lines in Hawaii

While ‘geography' is mentioned a lot as the #1 reason, we see many ferry routes on even more difficult operational routes. However, it is in this case also a valid reason:

The shortest distance (air line) between Honolulu and Hilo is 209.67 mi (337.44 km).

Distance.to

The main thing is that long-distance ferries are expensive. It is possible to simply make ferry lines operational when they are this long. But expensive ferries need a much bigger demand compared with cheaper ferry routes. If you would, for instance, compare Hawaii with the Canary Islands (which do have a lot of ferry routes), you only need to look at the size of the islands: Tenerife is almost 2,034 square kilometers, while the island of Hawaii is already 10,432 square kilometers.

The infrastructure is one that could be easily addressed

Infrastructure: Hawaii lacks infrastructure to support the operation of ferries, such as adequate ports and terminals, making it difficult to launch new ferry routes. We do not see this as a valid reason for not building a new ferry route here.

The main problems for a route not re-appearing soon:

Competition & Lobbying of the competition: The air transportation industry in Hawaii is well-established and highly competitive, which makes it difficult for ferries to compete with airlines in terms of speed, cost, and convenience.

Environmental concerns: Hawaii has some of the most sensitive marine ecosystems in the world, and ferry operations could potentially harm these ecosystems, which could have negative consequences for the environment and the local economy. This isn't just a problem; it's a major issue that might be the #1 reason that a ferry will never reappear in Hawaii.

Electric ferries, as they are used in Denmark and Sweden, could be a fix here for the future, but we haven't seen many electric ferries in the US so far, except a few on very small routes. Electricity is difficult on long routes, so this will take 5 to 15 years at least.

Politics and regulatory hurdles

Operating ferries in Hawaii is challenging not only due to geographical and infrastructural issues but also because of legal and regulatory hurdles that ferry operators need to overcome. This includes obtaining permits and licenses from federal, state, and local authorities, which can be a time-consuming and complicated process.

Furthermore, environmental concerns are an important consideration when launching new ferry routes. Given Hawaii's sensitive marine ecosystems, ferry operators must ensure that their operations are environmentally friendly and that they have robust plans to mitigate any potential harm to the environment.

These factors have made it difficult for companies to establish large ferries in Hawaii, and the significant losses experienced by ferry companies in 2009 have further underscored the risks involved. Therefore, companies that are interested in starting a ferry service in Hawaii must navigate various challenges and take careful steps to ensure compliance with regulations and environmental considerations.

Will there ever be a new ferry connection?

Harbors can be fixed, money might be fixed, and more tourists will be coming to the islands. The issues that are difficult to overcome are environmental issues (even though ferries are known to be clean, the old ferries used by Hawaiian superferries weren't clean at all) and political problems regarding lines like this. You need to have huge local support to make this work. It might take another 10 to 15 years to develop new technologies (hybrid/clean ferries) to make this work.