HONOLULU -- The management of the Hawaii Superferry told workers on Thursday afternoon it would furlough 249 employees.

The announcement comes days after a Maui judge's ruling put the Superferry's operations on hold.

The furlough puts 75 percent of the company's employees out of work for the time being.

"Rather than just pull up stake and leave, we're willing to work through this, but maintaining our employees for another number of weeks until we have certainly of when that decision will be is just too much for us," Hawaii Superferry President John Garibaldi said.

Garibaldi said during testimony in the Maui hearing that his company had been losing $650,000 a week while it did not operate to the Valley Isle and Kauai.

The somber mood could be seen on the faces of employees after they left mid-afternoon meetings during which they were told about the layoffs.

They comforted each other and some got very emotional after hearing the bad news.

"(I have) kind of mixed feelings. We all kind of accepted it and kind of knew it was coming, but everybody's pretty hopeful," Superferry employee Jack Delgado said.

Delgado, who works full time as a flight attendant at Aloha Airlines, was laid off from his part-time job as a port utility inspector at the Superferry.

He said see what happens next for the company.

"Continue my full-time job and just wait, watch the news," Delgado said.

Others said they are frustrated.

Allen Curtis, a captain who delivered the ship to Hawaii, is one of 59 employees who will remain on the payroll.

"Eventually it was inevitable. I don't think anybody thought this was going to go on too much longer," Superferry worker Allen Curtis said.

“It is with a heavy heart that I must share the news that we will be furloughing 249 members of our Hawaii Superferry family at the end of today. This includes 36 residents of Maui, 35 residents of Kauai, and 178 residents of Oahu," Garibaldi said in a written statement. Read the statement

The laid-off workers would be allowed to apply for state unemployment benefits.