Cruising for Dollars

San Diego and Avalon would be the big winners if Congress changes an arcane federal law that forbids foreign cruise ships from calling at two U.S. ports in a row, according to a study commissioned by the California Trade and Commerce Agency’s Division of Tourism.

Legislation is pending in the U.S. Senate to amend the 111-year-old Passenger Services Act--which was originally intended to protect U.S. ferryboat operators on the Great Lakes--so that cruise lines operating boats under foreign registries can offer domestic itineraries.

If the law is changed, San Diego can expect 112 additional annual port calls by 2003, bringing nearly 174,000 passengers a year, the study by Applied Development Economics in Berkeley projected. San Diego had 18 port calls in 1996.

Avalon would get an estimated 110 new port calls in 2003. It had 104 in 1996. Los Angeles would see 77 new port calls. It had 324 in 1996.

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Nancy Rivera Brooks can be reached via e-mail at nancy.rivera.brooks@latimes.com or by fax at (213) 237-7837.