Cruise line could start hiring here soon

By Kelly Yamanouchi
Advertiser Staff Writer

The cruise ship Norwegian Wind was docked at Pier 10 in Honolulu Harbor in September. Norwegian Cruise Line could start hiring in Hawai'i this summer if President Bush signs an omnibus spending bill passed by Congress. Chopper 8 • Special to The Advertiser

While there are no specific plans yet, a hiring and training program for jobs aboard the cruise ships could start as early as this summer, said Steve Hirano, Norwegian's spokesman in Hawai'i.

A provision to allow Norwegian to cruise in the Islands without going to a foreign port is included in an omnibus spending bill passed by Congress last week.

"We're just waiting until the president signs the bill," Hirano said. The first of three ships that would sail in Hawai'i under the provision is scheduled to be built by next summer.

The first ship would generate about 700 jobs, amounting to about $85 million in wages and salaries annually, according to U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye. The senior senator engineered the legislation to exempt Norwegian from the Passenger Vessel Services Act, a law requiring foreign cruise ships to stop at foreign ports.

Eventually the three cruise ships could create 3,000 seafaring jobs as well as another 6,000 jobs statewide. The jobs would amount to $250 million in wages and salaries annually and $300 million in taxes by 2007, according to Inouye.

That is welcome news to many in the Islands, including some of the 1,100 who lost their jobs when American Classic Voyages' Hawai'i cruises collapsed in late 2001.

Once the legislation is signed, Norwegian can fly U.S. flags on two ships that were originally part of Inouye's failed "Project America." The controversial project ended up costing taxpayers $185 million when its beneficiary, American Classic Voyages, went bankrupt and shut down. Norwegian bought materials for the two ships last year and has begun work on one of them in a German shipyard.

Norwegian will also be able to put U.S. flags on a third foreign-built ship, exempting it from a foreign port stop. All of the reflagged cruise ships would need to follow U.S. labor, tax and environmental laws.

There are plenty of details to be ironed out, including Norwegian's plans for cruises that stop at Fanning Island in the Republic of Kiribati to comply with the Passenger Vessel Services Act.

Hirano said there are no planned changes to the itinerary of the Norwegian Star that stops at Fanning Island and is based in Hawai'i year-round for cruises.

In addition to the Star, this year Norwegian has temporarily based a second cruise ship in Hawai'i that also calls at Fanning Island through April. Norwegian does not expect to repeat the schedule next year.

Kiribati officials have welcomed Norwegian's cruise stops, saying they bring economic benefits to the largely undeveloped island.

"It creates more jobs for the locals here," said Iataake King, acting senior tourism officer at the Kiribati Visitors Bureau.

King said he hasn't heard of any changes to the cruise itineraries, and that Norwegian Cruise Line had agreed to visit Fanning Island weekly until 2007 under a seven-year agreement.

"We don't know if they would change that, but at the moment we haven't heard of that," King said.

Inouye's legislation to benefit Norwegian got to this final stage after two cruise lines and industry group International Council of Cruise Lines failed to push through competing legislation. Their proposal would have granted an exemption to the requirement for a foreign port call to any cruise line for a total of six ships.

Opponents said the cruise industry provision was an attempt to kill Inouye's provision, which is expected to give Norwegian a virtual monopoly over the Hawai'i-based cruise market. Other cruise lines have not announced plans to start cruises based in Hawai'i with U.S. crews.

Reach Kelly Yamanouchi at 535-2470 or kyamanouchi@honoluluadvertiser.com.