Hawaii Superferry is offering refunds, reimbursement of certain expenses, and five free ferry tickets for passengers left stranded by the cancellation of Maui and Kaua'i service this week.

A Maui judge on Monday ordered the state Department of Transportation to prohibit the ferry from calling at Kahului Harbor until a ruling is made on whether an environmental assessment must be conducted before the facilities can be used by the company.

A hearing on the matter is set for 1:30 p.m. today in 2nd Circuit Court in Wailuku.

Hawaii Superferry provided round trips between O'ahu and Maui on Sunday and Monday before ceasing the service. Kaua'i trips were suspended indefinitely yesterday after protests at Nawiliwili Harbor.

Company officials did not respond to a request for information on how many people have been stranded or how many passengers with bookings on later sailings had requested refunds. At least two dozen cars were parked yesterday at the Superferry's vehicle check-in site at Kahului Harbor, some of which had arrived on the vessel Monday.

The company had hoped to resume its Maui service tomorrow, but a notice on its Web site yesterday said the vessel would not sail until Friday at the earliest.

In a flier distributed yesterday to Kaua'i-bound passengers, the company apologized for the cancellation and offered to return passengers to their point of origin via airlines and reimburse them "for any reasonable expenses" that may include a night's hotel stay and meals up to $25 per passenger per day.

Passengers were told to book a coach flight home and submit receipts with the passenger's name, address, phone number, e-mail address and original Hawaii Superferry booking number. The information should be sent to: Hawaii Superferry Inc.; Attn: Refunds; One Waterfront Plaza, 500 Ala Moana, Suite 300; Honolulu, HI 96813.

The flier also said the company will provide five passes for future voyages to passengers whose travel was disrupted by the cancellations.