USNS Puerto Rico (HST-2)

For other ships named Puerto Rico operated by the United States Government, see USS Puerto Rico.
"Alakai" redirects here. For the locality on Kauaʻi, see Alakai Wilderness Area.
The Cat leaving Yarmouth Harbour
History
United States
Name: Alakai
Owner:
Operator:
Port of registry:
Builder: Austal USA
Cost: US$88M
Yard number: 615
Way number: 1
Laid down: June 3, 2004
Launched: January 18, 2007
Christened: April 14, 2007
Maiden voyage: August, 2007
In service: 2007
Status: In Service
General characteristics
Type: Ferry
Displacement: 1646 Tons
Length: 349 ft (106 m)
Beam: 78 ft (24 m)
Draft: 12 ft (3.7 m)
Decks: 4
Deck clearance: 14 ft (4.3 m)
Ramps: NO
Ice class: NO
Installed power: 4 x MTU-8000 diesel engines
Propulsion: 4 x Rolls-Royce KaMeWa 125MkII waterjets
Speed: 35 kn (65 km/h; 40 mph)
Capacity: 866 passengers, 282 cars
Crew: 21

The USNS Puerto Rico (HST-2), formerly the Alakai, is a vessel currently owned by the United States Navy Military Sealift Command. It was originally the Hawaii Superferry's first high-speed ferry. The vessel is currently chartered by Bay Ferries Limited to operate a ferry service between Portland, Maine and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.

The design of the Spearhead-class Expeditionary Fast Transport is similar with the Hawaii Superferries, both built by Austal USA.

Vessel

USNS Puerto Rico was built as Alakai, which means "sea path" in the Hawaiian language. The vessel is a 349-foot (106 m) long high-speed roll-on / roll-off (Ro/Ro) passenger and vehicle ferry. It used to operate a daily service operated by Hawaii Superferry at a speed of 35 knots (65 km/h) between the islands of Oahu and Maui. HST Puerto Rico has a capacity of 866 passengers and up to 282 subcompact cars. Alternately, its vehicle decks can be reconfigured in 5 minutes to carry up to 20 large trucks and 90 cars.[2]

Like its sister ship USNS Guam (HST-1) (formerly Huakai), the vessel features environmentally friendly technologies including non-toxic bottom paint, zero wastewater discharge and clean diesel engines.[3]

Hawaii Superferry’s vessels were designed and built by Austal USA, a subsidiary of Austal, an Australian company that is the world's largest builder of fast ferries. Construction on HST Puerto Rico began in June 2004 in Mobile, Alabama. The ship was launched in January 2007, christened in April 2007 and sea trials went smoothly.

Starting Service

The Alakai during sea trials in 2007

The vessel arrived as the Alakai in Honolulu on June 30, 2007 with a celebration,[4] after a smooth 17-day delivery voyage.[5] The ship's maiden voyage was on August 26, 2007 and the trip to Maui was smooth. The voyage to Kauai was rougher and the Alakai was met by about a dozen protestors on surfboards blockading the entrance to Nawiliwili Harbor. The protestors were peacefully cleared by the Coast Guard.

2008 Dry Dock

On February 13, 2008 the Alakai went into dry dock to make repairs to its auxiliary rudders that were damaged in late January. The dry docking was extended due to hull damage caused when a tugboat moving the Alakai into dry dock lost power and collided heavily with the catamaran.[6] Alakai returned to service in early April 2008 shortly after Aloha Airlines ended service.[7] 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 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 are 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 the 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.[8]

In January 2010, the United States Maritime Administration announced that Huakai and Alakai would be used to assist with relief in the 2010 Haiti earthquake.[9][10][11]

Navy acquisition and name change

On September 13, 2010, the Huakai and Alakai were auctioned off, for $25 million each, by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. They were purchased by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration.[12]

On January 27, 2012, The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration transferred two high speed vessels, the Huakai and the Alakai, to the U.S. Navy under the Defense Authorization Act of 2012.[13] The Navy had planned to use the vessels to transport troops and equipment to training areas from Okinawa and other locations, helping the Navy meet these unique operational requirements without the need to build new vessels.[14]

In May 2012, The Navy has announced that both Alakai and Huakai have been renamed. The Alakai is now USNS Puerto Rico and the Huakai is now USNS Guam. Guam was modified to replace the chartered Westpac Express in Okinawa in March 2013, and Puerto Rico remained laid up until 2016.[15]

On 19 August 2012, USNS Puerto Rico was towed from Norfolk to Philadelphia, to keep is safe from hurricanes while future uses for the vessel were being evaluated.[16]

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 of the USNS Puerto Rico (HST-2). The vessel will be operated for a passenger/vehicle ferry service in the Gulf of Maine between Portland, Maine and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. The vessel will continue to be named USNS Puerto Rico (HST-2) but the service and vessel will 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 ago. The vessel underwent a refit at a shipyard in South Carolina and the service is started on June 15, 2016.[17][18][19]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Image showing port of registry listed on stern of the ferry, Honolulu Advertiser, retrieved March 8, 2008
  2. ↑ Star-Bulletin, Honolulu. "Alakai weighs anchor". starbulletin.com. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  3. ↑ Hawaii Superferry - Eco-friendly Features
  4. ↑ Superferry!, 2007-07-01
  5. ↑ "'Alakai' superferry speeds towards Hawaii". CDNN. 29 June 2007. Archived from the original on 20 Jul 2008. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  6. ↑ "BYM Marine & Maritime Defence News". bymnews.com. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  7. ↑ "Superferry in drydock till April 22 - The Honolulu Advertiser - Hawaii's Newspaper". honoluluadvertiser.com. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  8. ↑ Dicus, Howard (2009-07-01). "Hawaii Superferry abandons ship, and other bankruptcies in the news". KGMB9.com. Howzit Howard. Honolulu, HI, USA: KGMB9. Archived from the original on 2009-10-09. Retrieved 2013-02-09. External link in |work= (help)
  9. ↑ Maritime Administration Prepares Five Ships For Duty, U.S. Department of Transportation, January 18, 2010
  10. ↑ Hawaii Superferry Alakai Becomes Sixth Merchant Ship Activated , U.S. Department of Transportation, January 20, 2010
  11. ↑ "New ferry expected to make Portland-Yarmouth trip in 5½ hours - The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram". pressherald.com. 24 March 2016. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  12. ↑ "U.S. buys more high-speed vessels". navytimes.com. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  13. ↑ "Defense Authorization Act funds transfer of ex-Superferries to Navy". MarineLog. 19 December 2011. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  14. ↑ Navy Gets Two High Speed Vessels from Maritime Administration
  15. ↑ "Secretary of the Navy Names High Speed Ferries Guam and Puerto Rico – May 2012".
  16. ↑ Seward, Zack. "Why is a Hawaiian 'superferry' docked at the Philadelphia Navy Yard? — NewsWorks". newsworks.org. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  17. ↑ "The Cat expected to start ferry service in Maine in mid-June - The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram". pressherald.com. 25 May 2016. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  18. ↑ "US Navy to lease high-speed transport to Bay Ferries - Professional Mariner - Web Bulletin 2016". professionalmariner.com. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  19. ↑ 13, Cbs. "High-speed ferry begins service in Portland". bangordailynews.com. Retrieved 10 July 2016.

External links

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