NCL America Inc. has agreed to pay $485,000 to seven Middle Eastern crew members who had been fired from various positions on the cruise ship Pride of Aloha, according to a federal agency and the cruise ship company.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission yesterday announced the settlement of a federal lawsuit against NCL.

The Pride of Aloha — which has been docked in Honolulu Harbor for several days — will set sail today for Miami, where it will be renamed, repainted and sail under a foreign flag.

NCL America agreed to settle the crew members' claims, but, in a written statement, denied that it acted improperly.

The federal commission said NCL America Inc., owner of the Pride of Aloha cruise ship, fired crew members Ahmed Almraisi, Nagi A. Alziam, Samed Kassam, Muthana A. Shaibi, Nork Yafaie, Abdullah Yahia, and Ashmed Almlhany without good cause because of bias against their national origin (Yemeni/Middle Eastern) and/or religion (Muslim).

The crewmembers were fired after management became concerned about the ship's security, despite the Federal Bureau of Investigation's conclusion that none of the workers were a security threat, according to the suit.

The company statement said: "We are proud of our employment practices and record and do not condone discrimination of any kind. Our employees come from a very broad range of ethnic and religious backgrounds, which provides a wonderful diversity among our staff."

As part of a two-year consent decree resolving the case, NCL agreed to pay the crew members.

NCL also agreed "to revise its policies to ensure a workplace that promotes equal employment opportunity, to hire an EEO consultant, and to provide training to its managers and employees on the company's equal employment policy and complaint procedure."

The Pride of Aloha ended its Hawai'i service last week. After it leaves today, only one Norwegian Cruise Lines ship will regularly ply the interisland cruise market at a time when the local visitor industry is struggling with declining arrivals and rising airfares.