The two former Hawai‘i Superferry vessels were acquired by the US Maritime Administration in a credit bid at an auction in Norfolk, Virginia, last month.
The Maritime Administration bid on the catamarans using the original $150 million guarantee that the federal government had already spent on the boats, according to a Maritime Administration spokesperson.
Hawai‘i Superferry shut down its interisland service in March 2009 after the Hawai‘i Supreme Court ruled that a state law exempting the Superferry from completing an environmental impact statement was unconstitutional.
