USNS Puerto Rico (HST-2)
The Alakai is a catamaran ferry. It was used by Hawaii Superferry 2007 as a ferry service between the Hawaiian islands of Oahu and Maui, it needed about three hours for a ride. According to a judgment of the Supreme Court of Hawaii, the company was prohibited in Hawaii, the company went bankrupt and gave the Alakai and you still property under construction sister ship to. Owner has since become the United States Maritime Administration.
Ship information
The Alakai is a 106 m long Ro-Ro passenger and car ferry. It has a capacity of 866 passengers and 282 cars The vehicle deck can be converted in 5 minutes so that 20 trucks and 90 passenger cars can be accommodated.
As with its sister ship Huakai some environmentally friendly technologies have been implemented in the ship, as a non- toxic underwater paint, sewage disposal on land and low-emission diesel engines.
The Alakai was from June 2004 to January 2007 at the shipyard Austal USA ( Austal USA is a division of Australia-based Austal ) in Mobile, as a building number 615 and with a length of 106.5, a width of 23.8 a draft of 3.65 meters. The ship has been surveyed with 8127 GT and has a load capacity of 800 tdw The drive system consists of the main engines (4 x MTU 20V 8000 M71 ), each with 8200 kW at 1150/min and 4 water jet drives ( KaMeWa 125 S11). With 90 % engine power the ship reaches a speed of 40 knots, the cruising speed is 35 knots.
Use
The naming ceremony took place in April 2007. The Alakai reached Honolulu on 30 June 2007 after a 17-day trip. The maiden voyage took place on 26 August 2007.
On 13 February 2008, the Alakai had to go into dry dock to repair damage to the lateral fin stabilizers which they had suffered in late January. Because of damage to the ship's hull by a trafficker, who had become unable to maneuver at the entrance to the dry dock, the extended time in the dock. The Alakai took in early April 2008 the service back on shortly after Aloha Airlines had abandoned the operation.
On 17 March 2009, the Court of Hawaii Supreme Court that granted without environmental impact studies approval was unconstitutional. Hawaii Superferry was considering other uses of the ship, but also a re- recording operation after completion of the environmental assessment, but then went bankrupt and gave the Alakai and you still property under construction sister ship to.
In January 2010, the U.S. Maritime Administration announced plans to send ships to help with the earthquake in Haiti.
On 13 September 2010, the Huakai and Alakai by the United States District Court were auctioned for the Eastern District of Virginia at auction for each 25 million U.S. dollars. Purchaser shall be the United States Maritime Administration.