The liquidation of Hawaii Superferry Inc., a former operator of high-speed ferry service between the islands of Oahu and Maui, should be transferred to Hawaii from Delaware, where the company filed under Chapter 11 on May 30, according to a so-called change-of-venue motion filed Saturday by the state of Hawaii.

The state said that Hawaii Superferry has no connection with Delaware aside from being incorporated there. All of the operations were in Hawaii, the state said.
The hearing on the motion to move the case will be held July 1.
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 say.
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 Chapter 11 petition said that assets and debt both exceed $100 million. Debt includes $136 million in first-mortgage bonds secured by the ferries. There is another $23 million in second-priority ship mortgages owing to shipbuilder Austal Ships. Guggenheim Fund LLC is owed $51.7 million on notes where there is a $7.5 million fund to pay interest.
The last major Hawaii-based company to file in Delaware was Hawaiian Telcom Communications Inc. It filed for Chapter 11 reorganization on Dec. 1 in Delaware and moved the case to Hawaii under pressure from creditors.