HONOLULU -- Opponents said the mess with the Hawaii Superferry could have been avoided two years ago if Gov. Linda Lingle's administration had been more cautious about giving the company approval to speed ahead without an environmental review.

The governor said she is not responsible for the Superferry's situation and has no regrets.

Some protestors in Kauai urged the governor to take responsibility, saying the situation could have been avoided if her administration had followed the law and called for an environmental assessment.

"I am very disappointed that to this time to this date neither the governor nor the Transportation Department has acknowledged that we were wrong, that they made a mistake," Kauai Sen. Gary Hooser said.

The governor was at a tourism conference on Tuesday, where the Superferry was making a pitch for tourism business.

The governor said she feels no responsibility for ferry's current dilemma.

"I have no regrets. I think our guys handled this just right. It was clear the Superferry should not be singled out for an environmental assessment," Lingle said.

The governor said she is the one who asked the Superferry on Tuesday to stop its Kauai operations.

However, the Superferry said it made its decision after the Coast Guard could not assure safe passage.

Now that the Superferry has stalled, the governor said she has concerns that reach farther into the future.

"This does hurt the visitor industry. It also hurts our reputation as a place to do business and to be treated fairly and in my opinion Superferry is not being treated fairly," Lingle said.

The governor said she is also worried the Hawaii Supreme Court's ruling could extend to other state harbor and airport improvements.