''HST-2'', formerly named USNS ''Puerto Rico'' and ''Alakai'', is a vessel owned by the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

Military Sealift Command The Military Sealift Command (MSC) is an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the United States Navy. Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all U ...

. She was originally Hawaii Superferry's first high-speed

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

. The vessel was later chartered by Bay Ferries Limited to operate a ferry service between

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

and

Yarmouth, Nova Scotia Yarmouth is a port town located on the Bay of Fundy in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. Yarmouth is the shire town of Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia, Yarmouth County and is the largest population centre in the region. History Originally inhab ...

. The design of the is similar to the two high-speed ferries operated by Hawaii Superferry, both built by

Austal USA Austal USA is an American shipbuilder based on Blakeley Island in Mobile, Alabama. It is a subsidiary of the Australian shipbuilder Austal, operating under a Special Security Arrangement which allows it to work independently and separately on s ...

Vessel

''HST-2'' was built as ''Alakai'', which means "sea path" in the

Hawaiian language Hawaiian (', ) is a critically endangered Polynesian language of the Austronesian language family, originating in and native to the Hawaiian Islands. It is the native language of the Hawaiian people. Hawaiian, along with English, is an offi ...

. The vessel is a long high-speed

roll-on/roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, Trailer (vehicle), trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their ...

(Ro/Ro) passenger and vehicle ferry. She used to operate a daily service operated by Hawaii Superferry at a speed of between the islands of

Oahu Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...

and

Maui Maui (; Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ) is the second largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago, at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2). It is the List of islands of the United States by area, 17th-largest in the United States. Maui is one of ...

. ''HST-2'' has a capacity of 866 passengers and up to 282 subcompact cars. Alternately, its vehicle decks can be reconfigured in five minutes to carry up to 20 large trucks and 90 cars. Like her

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same Ship class, class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They o ...

(formerly ''Huakai''), the vessel features environmentally friendly technologies including non-toxic bottom paint, zero wastewater discharge and clean

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

s. Hawaii Superferry's vessels were designed and built by

, a subsidiary of

Austal Austal Limited is an Australian-based global ship building company and defence prime contractor that specialises in the design, construction and support of defence and commercial vessels. Austal's product range includes naval vessels, High-spee ...

, an Australian company that is the world's largest builder of fast ferries. Construction on ''HST-2'' began in June 2004 in

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

. The ship was launched in January 2007, christened in April 2007 and

sea trial A sea trial or trial trip is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a "shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on op ...

s went smoothly.

Starting service

The vessel arrived as ''Alakai'' in

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

on June 30, 2007, with a celebration, after a smooth 17-day delivery voyage. The ship's maiden voyage was on August 26, 2007, and the trip to Maui was smooth. The voyage to

Kauai Kauai (), anglicized as Kauai ( or ), is one of the main Hawaiian Islands. It has an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), making it the fourth-largest of the islands and the 21st-largest island in the United States. Kauai lies 73 m ...

was rougher and ''Alakai'' was met by about a dozen protestors on surfboards blockading the entrance to

Nawiliwili Harbor Nawiliwili Beach Park is a beach park and port on the south-east coast of the island of Kauai in the Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands () are an archipelago of eight major volcanic islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in ...

. The protestors were peacefully cleared by the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

2008 dry dock

On February 13, 2008, ''Alakai'' went into dry dock to make repairs to her auxiliary rudders that were damaged in late January. The dry docking was extended due to hull damage caused when a

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

moving ''Alakai'' into

dry dock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

lost power and collided heavily with the catamaran. ''Alakai'' returned to service in early April 2008 shortly after

Aloha Airlines Aloha Airlines was an airline in the United States that operated passenger flights from 1946 until 2008. It was headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii, operating from its hub at Honolulu International Airport (now Daniel K. Inouye International Air ...

ended service. Before resuming service the ship went through sea trials and was re-certified by the Coast Guard.

2009 shut down

On March 17, 2009, after about 11 months in service, the

Hawaii Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Hawaii is the highest court of the State of Hawaii in the United States. Its decisions are binding on all other courts of the Hawaii State Judiciary. The principal purpose of the Supreme Court is to review the decisions o ...

ruled that the legislation permitting ''Alakai'' to operate without an environmental review was unconstitutional. Hawaii Superferry made one last round trip to allow an orderly return of passengers who were not on their home island. They canceled existing reservations and did not take new reservations. The Superferry company intended to look for other work for ''Alakai''; it had also left open the possibility of bringing the ferry back into service if and when Hawaii completed an environmental review, but the company decided to abandon the vessel ending all possibilities of returning to Hawaii. In January 2010, the

United States Maritime Administration The United States Maritime Administration (MARAD) is an Government agency#United States, agency of the United States Department of Transportation. MARAD administers financial programs to develop, promote, and operate the United States Maritime ...

announced that ''Huakai'' and ''Alakai'' would be used to assist with relief in the

2010 Haiti earthquake The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic Moment magnitude scale, magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake that struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest (departm ...

Navy acquisition and name change

On September 13, 2010, ''Huakai'' and ''Alakai'' were auctioned off, for $25 million each, by the

U.S. District Court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

for the Eastern District of Virginia. They were purchased by the

U.S. Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the president of the United States a ...

Maritime Administration Maritime administrations, or flag state administrations, are the executive arms/state bodies of each government responsible for carrying out the shipping responsibilities of the state, and are tasked to administer national shipping and boating issu ...

. On January 27, 2012, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration transferred two high speed vessels, ''Huakai'' and ''Alakai'', to the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

under the Defense Authorization Act of 2012. The Navy had planned to use the vessels to transport troops and equipment to training areas from

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

and other locations, helping the Navy meet the unique operational requirements without the need to build new vessels. In May 2012, the Navy announced that both ''Alakai'' and ''Huakai'' had been renamed. ''Alakai'' was to be named USNS ''Puerto Rico'' and ''Huakai'' was to be named . ''Guam'' was modified to replace the chartered in Okinawa in March 2013, and ''Puerto Rico'' remained laid up until 2016. On August 19, 2012, ''HST-2'' (then USNS ''Puerto Rico'') was towed from

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, to keep it safe from

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...

s while future uses for the vessel were being evaluated. 20240624051457 On February 5, 2016, the U.S. Secretary of the Navy removed the name ''Puerto Rico'' from the vessel. The name ''Puerto Rico'' was subsequently reassigned to on December 14, 2016. Austal USA shifted its entire effort after 2009 to U.S. Navy construction of the similar Joint High Speed Vessels (JHSVs) and 12 Littoral Combat Ships (LCSs) with the experience building the high speed ferries as a feature in winning those contracts.

Gulf of Maine ferry service

On March 24, 2016, Bay Ferries Limited announced that it had reached an agreement with the U.S. Maritime Administration and the U.S. Navy for a multi-year

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...

of ''HST-2''. The vessel would be operated for a passenger/vehicle ferry service in the

Gulf of Maine The Gulf of Maine is a large gulf of the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of North America. It is bounded by Cape Cod at the eastern tip of Massachusetts in the southwest and by Cape Sable Island at the southern tip of Nova Scotia in the northea ...

between

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

and

and retain the name ''HST-2'', but the service and vessel would be branded as ''The CAT'' to align with previous branding used when Bay Ferries operated a high-speed passenger/vehicle ferry on the same route six years prior. The vessel underwent a refit at the Detyens Shipyard in

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

and the service started on June 15, 2016. At the end of the 2018 season, it was announced that the ferry would be departing from the town of

Bar Harbor Bar Harbor () is a resort town on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population is 5,089. The town is home to the College of the Atlantic, Jackson Laboratory, and MDI Biological Laboratory. ...

, rather than Portland. Service along this new route was originally expected to begin in summer 2019, but was delayed due to construction work at the Bar Harbor marina. Service was then canceled during both the 2020 and 2021 seasons due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. After three years out of port, ''The CAT'' returned to sail from Yarmouth on May 19, 2022, providing service to

Bar Harbor, Maine Bar Harbor () is a resort town on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population is 5,089. The town is home to the College of the Atlantic, Jackson Laboratory, and MDI Biological Laborat ...

for the first time in 13 years.

References

External links

Official site of The CatHawaii Superferry’s Bankruptcy = US Navy Opportunity
��Defense Industry Daily
Alakai: Hawaii says aloha to fast ferryTour of the Alakai
{{DEFAULTSORT:HST-2 Ferries of Hawaii High-speed craft 2007 ships High speed vessels of the United States Navy Military catamarans