The state Department of Transportation said 10 weeks of daily tugboat service — at a cost of $350,000 — is needed at Kahului Harbor to support Hawaii Superferry operations.

The tug service is necessary to keep a state-owned barge snug against the end of Pier 2C during ocean surges and to provide safe loading and unloading of passengers and vehicles, according to a request filed Friday to exempt the contract from state procurement rules.

Without the assistance, the state could be liable for damage claims by the Superferry of $18,000 a day if it cannot meet its obligation to provide barges with mooring systems to enable ferry operations, the request said.

The tip of Pier 2C is vulnerable to winter northeast swells, and storm surges have resulted in damage to the pier or barge on three occasions since mid-November.

"The challenges this winter have been much greater than expected," DOT Deputy Director of Harbors Michael Formby said in an e-mail yesterday to The Advertiser.

The state Procurement Office is reviewing the exemption request, which states that $350,000 is needed to pay P&M Marine Services LLC to provide services from Jan. 18 to March 31.

P&M Marine Services has been providing daily tugboat assistance on an emergency basis since the Superferry's Dec. 13 relaunch. Information on the cost of service from that date to Jan. 18 was not immediately available, although Formby said such services typically run approximately $1,000 to $1,200 per hour.

The Superferry runs a single daily roundtrip between Honolulu and Maui, arriving at Kahului around 10:15 a.m. and departing an hour later. Tug services for the ferry visit are employed for about three hours a day.

The DOT and the Hawaii Superferry will be meeting to negotiate who will foot the bill for the tugboat and surge-related repairs, Formby said.

"Everything is on the table. The state has funded (the tug services and repairs) to date but not by agreement that the costs were on its account," he said.

Terry O'Halloran, Hawaii Superferry director of business development, yesterday said the state has been adequately dealing with the surge issue and the company "has every confidence the barge will be available and ready for us when we need it."

He also said the two parties should be able to come to an agreement on costs. "We're going to work together to make this work for both of us," he said.

Under a September 2005 operating agreement between the DOT and Hawaii Superferry, the state owns the barges and has an obligation to deliver the platforms with mooring systems in place to the company. Once the Superferry accepts the barges, it assumes the cost of maintenance and repairs.

Apparently it is not yet clear to officials whether the state met its "State Equipment Availability Date I" under the operating agreement and whether the company accepted the barges.

NO AGREEMENT YET

The Maui barge and a ramp at Nawiliwili Harbor on Kaua'i were installed and in use when the Superferry first launched service in late August. After two days of service, the ferry was halted by a Maui court order and by protests on Kaua'i.

"To date, due to the mooring system failure in Kahului caused by the early winter storms, the state and HSF have not come to an agreement yet on the delivery date of the Kahului barge and/or HSF acceptance of the Kahului barge," Formby said.

Since the ferry is operating despite the absence of a permanent mooring system at Kahului Harbor, Formby said state officials will be meeting with the company on how the costs of repairs and maintenance for the barge should be allocated between the two parties.

"We are in the process of scheduling meetings with HSF to discuss these financial details," he said.

The bill for tugboat services would be even greater if the ferry company had gone forward with plans to start a second daily Honolulu-to-Maui roundtrip on Jan. 16. Those plans were put on hold following objections by Maui Mayor Charmaine Tavares, who said she had not been notified of the additional service.

Hawaii Superferry is now looking to begin the second roundtrip sometime in the spring, O'Halloran said.

The Superferry has been subject to controversy and legal challenges over its potential impact on humpback whales, traffic, the spread of invasive species and other issues.

The DOT has been criticized for exempting $40 million in ferry-related harbor projects, including the barges, from state environmental review laws. Barge and/or ramp systems to load and unload vehicles from the 350-foot ferry were built for Kahului, Honolulu, Nawiliwili and Kawaihae harbors, although the Superferry currently is serving only Honolulu and Maui.

Under a new state law, the ferry is being allowed to operate while the DOT conducts an environmental assessment of the ferry-related projects.

In its request for an exemption from procurement rules, the DOT said it would not be advantageous to the state or practical to procure tugboat services through a competitive bid process due to the time-consuming process and because only two vendors are available at Kahului Harbor to provide the services.

SERVICES CHEAPER

The document said P&M Marine Services "was five times lower" than the second vendor, Hawaiian Tug & Barge.

The Coast Guard has permitted use of the tug through March 31, although an extension could be requested, Formby said. The Harbors Division hopes to have a more permanent mooring system in place at that time, he said.

Winter surf likely will have subsided by then and tug assistance no longer needed, according to Formby.

During a Nov. 14 swell, the barge bumped up against the Pier 2C fender, snapping several soft lines, or ropes, and denting the platform.

Unusually large wave action in the harbor Dec. 3 snapped four lines securing the barge to the pier and uprooted two mooring bollards. DOT repairs forced the Superferry to delay its relaunch by a week.

The latest episode occurred Jan. 16, forcing the ferry to cancel service for two days.

DECISION QUESTIONED

After the earlier events, the Harbors Division worked with the Superferry and marine architects to propose to the Coast Guard an interim soft-line mooring system that included tugboat assistance.

Even before the recent surge events, critics questioned the wisdom of using the end of Pier 2 for Superferry operations.

A 2002 Army Corps of Engineers study of wave conditions within the Maui harbor noted the seaward end of the pier is "believed to be approaching the limit of operational conditions."

Clay Hutchinson of Healy Tibbitts Builders Inc., which built the Superferry barges, said the 2002 report and other data on surge conditions at Kahului Harbor were considered in the platform design.

Although use of a tugboat to keep the barge in place was not foreseen in the plan, Hutchinson said it's no surprise that surges are causing problems at the Maui port.

"It's winter and December is the worst month," he said.

He deferred to the DOT for further comment.

Formby said "all options and factors were considered prior to the decision to locate the Kahului barge at Pier 2C."

"The barges were considered a viable operational alternative to other options which required more time and funds to implement, as well as more land/pier space than available," he said.

A $345 million modernization plan for Kahului Harbor calls for moving interisland ferry and cruise ship operations from the east side of the port to new facilities on the west side.

With construction not slated to begin until fiscal year 2010, the improvements won't be ready for the next winter surf season.

That is "precisely why our engineers are studying a mooring system for Pier 2C which can withstand winter storm challenges like those experienced this year," Formby said.

Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com.