WILMINGTON, Del. — A bankruptcy judge today ruled that Hawaii Superferry can abandon its two catamarans to lenders owed $158.8 million for their construction and that the bulk of the bankruptcy case will remain in Delaware.

The decision by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Peter Walsh means the vessels, relocated from Hawaii to a shipyard in Mobile, Ala., may be taken over by the federal agency that helped fund the ships’ construction.
“We’re not going to be returning back to the state of Hawaii now that the estate has abandoned the ships,” company attorney Leon Barson told Walsh today during a hearing in Wilmington, Del., where Hawaii Superferry filed for bankruptcy on May 30.
Walsh also ruled that the main part of the bankruptcy case would stay in Delaware. Only claims filed by the state of Hawaii related to its contract with Superferry will be transferred to the federal bankruptcy court in Hawaii, Walsh said.
The state said in its change-of-venue motion that Hawaii Superferry has no connection with Delaware aside from being incorporated there. All of the operations were in Hawaii, the state said.
Having the case nearly 5,000 thousand miles and six time zones away makes it difficult to protect the state's interest in regulating the use of Hawaii's waters and ports, the state's papers said.
Hawaii Superferry had support from creditors in opposing moving the case to Honolulu.
Hawaii Superferry Inc. pointed out that more than half the unsecured creditors aren’t in Hawaii while the largest secured creditor, Guggenheim Corporate Funding LLC, wanted the case to remain in Delaware.
The Maritime Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation also wanted the case to stay where it is, and so did the official creditors’ committee.
The committee, with one of its three members from Hawaii, pointed out that the company isn’t operating in the state and that the two catamarans aren’t there either.
Honolulu-based Hawaii Superferry was shut down in March by a decision from the Hawaii Supreme Court. The company was operating one ferry since August 2007. The second was delivered in April.
The company said in its Chapter 11 petition that its assets and debt both exceed $100 million. Debt includes $136 million in first-mortgage bonds secured by the ferries. Another $23 million in second-priority ship mortgages are owing to shipbuilder Austal Ships. Guggenheim is owed $51.7 million on notes where the company says there is a $7.5 million fund for paying interest.