HONOLULU -- State auditors said their findings determined that Hawaii Superferry officials pressured Gov. Linda Lingle's administration to allow it to operate and that lawmakers "gave in."

The audit said Superferry officials told the state it had to meet a June 2005 deadline or the Federal Maritime Administration would deny a loan guarantee it needed to operate.

The auditor said documents show the Superferry refused to do an environmental assessment, saying it would take too long, make it miss its deadline, and be a deal breaker.

However, the auditor said the Superferry mischaracterized the deadline.

"This deadline which was purported to be a federal deadline was in fact a deadline between the Superferry and their ship builder," State Auditor Marion Higa said.

Higa said the Federal Maritime Association told her three times it did not set a June 2005 deadline. The Superferry's misrepresentations and pressure to be fast tracked may have been compromised environmental protections, she said.

She said an e-mail from then Lingle's Chief of Staff Bob Awana's office sought the exemption for the Superferry.

The state's Harbors Division stands by then Director Barry Fukunaga's decision to exempt the Superferry.

"We were not strong-armed," State Harbors Director Mike Formby said. "We knew the deadline was in fact a deadline that the Superferry could not come to the state of Hawaii if it could not execute a shipbuilding contract by that date."

Superferry Chief Executive Officer John Garibaldi said there was no attempt to pressure the state, that the deadline involved a real and a complex set of agreements between the federal and private lenders and the shipbuilder.

Garibaldi called Higa's conclusions "unfortunate."