Local activists are once again crying "foul" on the San Francisco Waterfront, this time over a pending contract with Hornblower Yachts Inc. for an eco-friendly ferry service for the Alcatraz Island tours.
By Kristen Bole Special to Bay Crossings
Published: May, 2006
Local activists are once again crying foul on the San Francisco Waterfront, this time over a pending contract with Hornblower Yachts Inc. for an eco-friendly ferry service for the Alcatraz Island tours.
And in true San Francisco fashion, the outcry is coming from the least expected place: the greatest supporters of the new plan.
They’ve proposed to do something very environmentally positive, but they may have budget constraints, said Russell Long, founder of the San Francisco-based Bluewater Network and a major proponent of including environmental preservation in new Park Service contracts. I don’t want any environmental attributes to be cut out of this boat.
Long, who wrote a letter in Hornblower’s defense in a recent lawsuit over the case, sent a new letter, April 24, to the National Park Service, asking it to obtain a written commitment from Hornblower that it is willing to spend the money needed to provide eco-friendly service. If not, the letter strongly urges the Park Service not to sign the contract.
At stake is the proposed 10-year contract for the Alcatraz Island ferry service, which carries 1.3 million visitors to the National Park each year. That contract has been handled since 1994 by Hornblower’s competitor, the Blue & Gold Fleet.
When the contract came up for renewal this year, the Park Service awarded it to Hornblower, pending the standard 60-day Congressional approval that will end May 8. That award was based on what is said to be an innovative proposal to introduce a solar-and wind-powered ferry to the service, dramatically reducing ferry emissions.
Our proposal is to create leading-edge boats/ferries that would be the pride of the green movement, the pride of the Park Service and the pride of the country, said Hornblower co-founder Terry MacRae, whose comments were limited by the pending contract and ongoing litigation. When people see what’s being offered, they’ll be amazed.
Ongoing Friction
Yet, Long says the deal could collapse if Hornblower is unwilling to pay more than $5 million for the proposed 600-passenger ferries, which were integral to Hornblower’s ability to win the contract.
Hornblower seems to feel there’s a cap at $5 million, Long said, calling it a misunderstanding of the contract’s terms. [This is] a big deal to the environmental community in terms of ensuring that Hornblower intends to abide by its commitment to build an eco-friendly boat.
While no ferry has ever been built to those specs, the San Francisco Bay Water Transit Authority has been researching eco-friendly ferries for its own fleet. WTA chief executive Steve Castleberry estimated that a 149-passenger, fuel-efficient boat would run between $6 million and $8 million. The Alcatraz line would have larger boats, with alternative fuel engines.
MacRae did not outright deny a price cap for the ferries, but stood by the original proposal to produce them.
It’s a sticky problem, but it’s not the first that Hornblower has experienced in winning this bid.
Under the National Park Service Concessions Management Improvement Act of 1998, park contracts were opened to a broader array of bidders, without preference for current concession holders.
The broader array included non-union shops, a label that Hornblower has proudly claimed, much to the dismay of waterfront labor. Blue & Gold, on the other hand, is proudly union. In fact, the San Francisco Labor Council sent a letter to the Park Service last October, asking it to reconsider the contract award on that basis.
Blue & Gold, which stands to lose its $14 million-per-year lifeblood, also filed suit last fall in the Federal Court of Claims to contest the contract award. The suit alleged multiple false claims in the Hornblower contract, including understating the cost of launching and running the service and overstating its revenues, according to an April 12 court ruling.
Blue & Gold also charged that the boats were unfeasible for the Bay and the technology too speculative to win the contract.
The Park Service won that case, but it is now under appeal, according to Parks spokeswoman Holly Bundock. Meanwhile, she said, the contract is proceeding as planned. Blue & Gold President Ron Duckhorn did not return a call requesting his comments.
The proverbial sticky wicket is that the 1998 act also required contracts to include environmental preservation as a core element of their service. As a result, Hornblower’s ability to fulfill its environmental pledge isn’t just a nice addendum: It’s central to the bid.
Futuristic Fleet
If it does develop as planned, the proposed ferry(s) would be truly revolutionary in a familiar way for the Bay Area: This is the killer app of the commuter ferry world.
MacRae said no one has ever built a solar ferry of this scale or conducted a study on the costs involved, nor has anyone submitted a bid for the Alcatraz line. Yet, a prototype has already arrived in San Francisco.
In March, Robert Dane presented the WTA with a model of a 600-passenger solar/wind ferry designed by his Australian company, Solar Sailor Holdings Ltd. At the time, he said the boat had been designed to suit the Alcatraz service and dinner cruises on the San Francisco Bay, and was based on vessels that have been used successfully in Sydney.
Using wind, sun and batteries, those ferries cut their fuel needs in half, while completely eliminating emissions at the dock. By contrast, current diesel ferries are heavy polluters, generating 10 times the pollution per person of single-passenger cars, Long said.
Dane could not comment on the contract or proposed costs, but verified his ferries’ technology. He said the boats also are designed for future conversion to a hydrogen-fuel-cell hybrid system that could overcome the limitations of battery power – namely the inability to go faster than about 20 knots, which renders them unfeasible for 30-knot routes like Vallejo’s. With hydrogen making up two thirds of every water molecule, that’s pretty convenient boat fuel. These also could continue to run if a disaster disrupts fuel sources.
Despite Long’s concerns, MacRae said the plan is to proceed with building an eco-friendly ferry, which should take about two years. In the meantime, he said, Hornblower plans to update current boats to reduce their emissions immediately.
It’s awkward to talk about it now, MacRae said. My suggestion is to tell your editors to wait until next month, when it will be a great story to tell.
Stay tuned.
