<story><title>The Hawai’i Seaglider Initiative: A new approach to travel between the islands</title><url>https://www.hawaiiseaglider.org/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>Animats</author><text>It&amp;#x27;s an ekranoplan. The USSR made several.  
The actual vehicle is from a company called Regent.[1] They do have a quarter-scale prototype, and a video. This web site is from some group trying to get funding for a service.&lt;p&gt;The current Regent ekranoplan, not yet shipping, is a 12 passenger model. That seems small for an inter-island ferry. It would be faster than a ferry, but since the existing inter-island ferry routes only run about an hour, more speed may not be worth the trouble.&lt;p&gt;Probably just a tourist attraction.&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;archive.is&amp;#x2F;CkcJI&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;archive.is&amp;#x2F;CkcJI&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>noduerme</author><text>I&amp;#x27;m not sure where you&amp;#x27;re getting this. There are no inter-island ferries anymore in Hawaii, except for the short tourist hops from Maui to Lanai and Molokai. Much longer trips between the big island, Maui and Oahu were possible for a couple years up until 2009 on the Superferry, but it closed after years of legal wrangling over environmental issues.</text></comment>
<story><title>The Hawai’i Seaglider Initiative: A new approach to travel between the islands</title><url>https://www.hawaiiseaglider.org/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>Animats</author><text>It&amp;#x27;s an ekranoplan. The USSR made several.  
The actual vehicle is from a company called Regent.[1] They do have a quarter-scale prototype, and a video. This web site is from some group trying to get funding for a service.&lt;p&gt;The current Regent ekranoplan, not yet shipping, is a 12 passenger model. That seems small for an inter-island ferry. It would be faster than a ferry, but since the existing inter-island ferry routes only run about an hour, more speed may not be worth the trouble.&lt;p&gt;Probably just a tourist attraction.&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;archive.is&amp;#x2F;CkcJI&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;archive.is&amp;#x2F;CkcJI&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>bruce511</author><text>&amp;gt;&amp;gt; Probably just a tourist attraction.&lt;p&gt;Yes and no. One the one hand, absolutely a tourist attraction. Its projected to be cheaper than flying, and hopes to be a lot less hassle. (Expect pushback from the airlines. )&lt;p&gt;However small capacity, cheap, accessible transport is a boon for islanders living in archipelago. For starters you&amp;#x27;re not bound to islands big enough for an airport.&lt;p&gt;Given that the vehicle is electric, and hawaii has abundant solar energy, it could end up being very cost effective.&lt;p&gt;So what starts small, and touristy, might end up being mainstream and useful in lots of similar (ie island) contexts.&lt;p&gt;On the environmental front I expect the usual &amp;quot;complain about anything new&amp;quot; crowd, coupled with push-back from existing operators. But it&amp;#x27;s hard to see how this does more environmental harm than planes or boats.</text></comment>