A vision for the future: Interisland ferry connections

By William H. Stewart
Special to the Saipan Tribune

Fifth in a series of six

“We all live under the same sky, but we don’t all have the same horizon.”
—Konrad Adenauer

There was an interesting article in a Honolulu newspaper headlined “Hawaii to Link Islands by Ferry System.” Hawaii Superferry executives and some states officials said that requiring an environmental review could have scuttled the first serious attempt in years to set up an interisland ferry system between Oahu, Maui, Kauai and the Big Island. The newspaper article stated environmentalists are worried about sea traffic endangering humpback whales. Can you believe it? For years whales have had to exist with battleships, aircraft carriers submarines and cruise ships, to mention only a few vessels. As an environmental iconoclast on this issue, I say put a “whale horn” on the ship and let them get out of the way.

The first Hawaiian ferry, under construction in Alabama, is scheduled to be launched in early 2007.

I wonder if the financing of the vessel is related to a federal law that was mentioned in this column five or six years ago—a possible project that no one chose to do anything about at the time by encouraging the concept among potential private investors. The CNMI government didn’t pick up on it, nor did Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs in Washington, D.C., or Guam for that matter and I don’t understand why, since all the above entities profess to be interested in the economic development of the islands.

At the end of the Cold War, Title XI–National Shipbuilding Initiative, U.S. Public Law 103-160, subtitle D 1993 was passed with the objective of assisting in retaining the United States’ shipbuilding capability, along with the necessary skills for national defense efforts. This federal program provides for government guarantees to enable ship owners to borrow private sector funds on terms that may not otherwise be available, namely the program guarantees up to 87.5 percent of a loan at fixed rates with a long-term maturity. I understand the guaranty could be available to any financial institution regardless of nationality. In my judgment the program should be evaluated for possible use in the construction and private operation of an automobile ferry for service between the islands of Saipan, Tinian, Rota and Guam.

Rota and Tinian have suffered for many years as a result of lack of development. Considering that the ocean is the Marianas highway, a great stimulus to economic growth of each might possibly be an automobile ferry route. Such a vessel should be designed to carry freight and containers and should be equipped with sleeping cabins and a restaurant. Such a vessel would serve to make the four inhabited Mariana Islands more cohesive and contribute to a tighter sense of community—something that is needed. The approximate open sea distances between these islands are, (from south to north) Guam – Rota: 47 nautical miles; Rota – Tinian: 63 n. m.; Tinian – Saipan: 10 n. m.

Besides the traffic generated by residents within the islands, such a vessel would permit a tourist on Saipan or Guam to rent a vehicle, tour the island and drive to the ferry and board. After a pleasant overnight ocean cruise, dinner and a comfortable cabin, the next morning the visitor could disembark at Guam and tour the island, afterward turning the vehicle in at Guam and flying home. Another tourist flies to any of the three other islands for a tour. A four- or five-day trip would permit a vehicle tour of all four islands. This potential project should be evaluated to determine the project’s feasibility.

The guaranty program was available to any financial institution regardless of nationality and one does not have to be a U.S. citizen in order to own and operate a vessel constructed under the loan program. Let’s hope this is still the case.

As mentioned above, the legislation was passed to keep American shipyards open and to relieve unemployment and underemployment in those domestic areas of the United States where shipbuilding is an important industry. Should it be determined from a feasibility study that a ferry operation can be justified on the Saipan–Guam route, then the vessel would have to be constructed in an American shipyard in order to qualify for the guaranty. Title 23, section 129 of the U.S. Code also provides for the use of federal highway funds in the construction of ferryboats and ferry terminal facilities. The Federal Transit Administration and the Federal Highway Administration both provide financial subsidies for automobile ferry service in the United States. Some years ago, when I made an inquiry, the National Technical Assistant Program of the United States Economic Development Administration indicated an interest in considering financing a feasibility study for such an automobile ferry service between the islands.

The following action is necessary: a qualified individual should visit each of the four islands to examine the situation and prepare a feasibility study to provide estimates of the following: cost of port and dock construction at Guam, Rota, Tinian and Saipan; cost of the vessel with a detailed estimate of the annual operating costs, including maintenance; estimate the number of days the vessel might be out of operation due to bad weather and maintenance; evaluate the market for the use of the route on all four islands; determine if Guam would be interested in the concept; estimate the one-way and roundtrip cost to the consumer, considering the amenities of an overnight ocean voyage as compared with the current cost of roundtrip air fare, vehicle and hotel accommodation rental at each of the route.

“Oh,” you say, “another project that can’t pass the cost-benefit test.” There are airfields on Rota and Tinian financed by U.S. government grants that couldn’t pass such tests either. There are “social benefits” which cannot be precisely measured in dollars. After all, the ocean is our highway, we should figure a way to use it as such.

Some sage once observed, “Visionaries are always looking to the future, the past does not satisfy. The ideal, whatever it may be, lies further on.”

(William H. Stewart is an economist, historian, and a military cartographer.)