Hawaii Superferry's Alakai is readying for its imminent departure from Honolulu Harbor to Mobile, Ala., home of the Austal USA shipyard where the high-speed catamaran was built.

The company would not comment yesterday on whether the Alakai will return to Hawai'i.

Hawaii Superferry earlier said it planned to retrofit the vessel with a vehicle loading ramp. A Honolulu Harbor shipping schedule shows the Alakai departing tomorrow, but the company said the vessel will leave "as soon as preparations are completed," which could be as early as today.

Superferry suspended its Honolulu-Maui sailings March 17 following a Hawai'i Supreme Court ruling invalidating a 2007 state law that allowed the ferry to operate while an environmental study is conducted under "Chapter 343," the state's environmental review law.

Company officials said they plan to lease out the vessel for service in another locale while the state Department of Transportation completes an environmental impact statement related to $40 million in ferry-related improvements at four ports.

Michael Formby, DOT deputy director for harbors, said yesterday the state does not object to the $85 million Alakai operating outside Hawai'i during the time it is unable to operate here.

"The state holds a Preferred Third Fleet Mortgage on the vessel, which protects the State of Hawai'i regardless of the vessel's location," Formby said.

He noted the operating agreement between Hawaii Superferry and DOT has a term of 22 years "and the State of Hawai'i would hope HSF would return" to the Islands after the environmental review is completed. "If it chooses not to return, the issue would involve the operating agreement and its enforceability given the 22-year term," he said.

A second $95 million ferry built by Austal is nearly ready for delivery, and Hawaii Superferry officials have said they are talking with ferry companies operating in the Mediterranean and other parties about leasing out the vessel.

Formby also said that since it will take months to complete the EIS and it's uncertain when the ferry will resume service in Hawai'i, he has decided to have the state-owned barge at Kahului Harbor used for loading and unloading vehicles towed to O'ahu for berthing in the protected waters of Honolulu Harbor.

The barge is moored at the end of Pier 2C, where it has been periodically battered by storm surges. Almost $3 million has been spent dealing with the troublesome Maui barge and mooring system.

The latest expenses include $414,000 paid to Healy Tibbitts Builders Inc. for recently completed structural repairs.

"We need to survey the barge first to confirm its seaworthiness for tow and then we will proceed with procuring a towing contract," Formby said.

At the time Superferry ceased operations earlier this month, the DOT was well into developing a new mooring system estimated to cost between $1 million to $1.5 million.

The loss of interisland ferry service was a blow to businesses, special-needs passengers and other travelers who liked the convenience of being able to take along their vehicles.

About 40 Maui supporters, many of them former Superferry employees, held a roadside rally Thursday near the ferry terminal in Kahului.

"We have been kind of a silent majority," Kula resident Traci Giordano Silva told The Maui News. "We want the Alakai back."

Her mother is a former ferry employee.

Other sign-holders said they hoped the EIS would be done quickly so the Superferry could resume operations, The Maui News reported.

Michael Tom, who has used a wheelchair since breaking his neck in a surfing accident 19 years ago, said he had planned to book a Superferry trip during spring break to take his specially equipped truck to O'ahu to be repaired.

"For many of us with disabilities, the Superferry is the only viable way of interisland travel. We can go on our wheelchair and stay on our wheelchair. It's the first time I have been able to get back on the ocean in ... years," said Tom, a middle school counselor at Kamehameha Schools-Maui.