A Hawaiian cruise, detour not required

It’s a common question: “Why do we have to sail to Fanning Island? We’ve never heard of it.” This coming summer -- for the first time in more than two years -- many Americans planning cruises within the Hawaiian Islands won’t need to worry about it.

Starting July 4, the Pride of Aloha -- one of the two major cruise ships permanently stationed in Hawaii -- will no longer make weekly 1,700-mile round trips to tiny Fanning Island in the South Pacific in the course of its cruises.

Its sister ship, the Norwegian Wind, will continue to make that weird detour from Hawaii, but we should all be grateful for at least some progress toward sanity.

How did Fanning Island, in the Republic of Kiribati, become a factor in Hawaiian cruising?

More than 50 years ago, to protect the fast-disappearing U.S. maritime industry, Congress decreed that no ship other than an American-flagged ship could transport passengers between one U.S. port and another. If they were not American-flagged, they could sail only between a U.S. port and a foreign port.

One purpose of this so-called cabotage law was to ensure that the classic cruise itineraries within the Hawaiian Islands would be monopolized by American vessels.

Sure enough, a company called America Hawaii Cruises (later known as American Classic Voyages) soon emerged as the only cruise line to offer sailings within the Hawaiian Islands. Its vessels were the rather ancient Constitution and the Independence. They made heavy use in summer of American college students as waiters and room stewards, and for many years it made sluggish use of its monopoly position.

Other lines, if they were to cruise the Hawaiian Islands, had to make a detour to Fanning Island (Norwegian Cruise Line chose that somewhat unattractive option) or had to originate the cruise in Ensenada, Mexico, or Vancouver, British Columbia, sailing vast stretches of the Pacific to reach Hawaii.

Nobody fared well at this, and shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, American Classic Voyages filed for bankruptcy protection, leaving Norwegian Cruise Line (with its Fanning Island burden) as the sole remaining specialist in Hawaiian cruises. A classic policy of economic protectionism had achieved nothing: The U.S. maritime industry hadn’t grown, and the tourist industry of Hawaii had been badly damaged by the limited number of passengers attracted to Hawaiian cruising.

Most recently, Congress gave Norwegian Cruise Line a limited exemption to operate foreign-built ships in Hawaii but only by creating a new “NCL America” line that would hire a largely American crew for at least one of its ships.

This summer, the newly repainted and refurbished Norwegian Sky will be renamed the Pride of Aloha and will confine itself to seven-night itineraries solely in the Hawaiian Islands, spending at least 96 hours each week at ports in Hawaiian cities.

The other Hawaii-assigned Norwegian Cruise Line ship -- the Norwegian Wind -- will sail 10- and 11-night itineraries of the Hawaiian Islands, detouring on each sailing to Fanning Island. And why? So that we don’t open the door to a torrent of foreign competition for that “American” company, the Norwegian Cruise Line subsidiary operating the Pride of Aloha.

It’s all a bit of a farce. But let’s all be grateful for small favors. Starting July 4, we’ll be able to book a seven-night cruise of the Hawaiian Islands on at least one ship that isn’t obligated to go back and forth to remote Fanning Island.

If you’d like to book, you can contact NCL America by calling (888) 625-4292 or by logging on to www.ncl.com.