Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.

Repairs interrupt
7-day ship cruise

The disruption costs
$1.4 million in refunds, but
the ship is back on schedule

---

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

A mechanical problem forced the cruise ship ms Patriot to return to its home port in Honolulu four days early this week, leaving the operator with a $1.4 million bill for refunds to travelers whose vacation plans were thwarted.

The 1,212-passenger ship set sail Saturday for a seven-night cruise around the islands, but a bearing in the drive system needed to be replaced so the Patriot slipped back into Honolulu Tuesday, cutting off visits to Kahului, Hilo and Kona.

Repairs were completed yesterday and the Patriot is scheduled to make its normal weekly sailing tomorrow, the vessel's Chicago-based owner, American Classic Voyages Inc., said today.

Passengers were allowed to stay aboard the ship in Honolulu and the ship's bars and restaurants stayed open. Passengers were offered full refunds plus vouchers for 50 percent off a future voyage on a ship operated by any subsidiary of American Classic.

The Patriot is operated by one of those subsidiaries, United States Lines, which also is building two new 1,900-passenger ships for future Hawaii cruises.

Another subsidiary, American Hawaii Cruises, operates the 860-passenger SS Independence out of Kahului. The company is giving refunds to passengers booked for a March 24 cruise on the Independence because that ship also needs repairs. Work on the thrusters that help it dock will be done in Pearl Harbor. The Independence is using now tugboats to help it enter and leave port.

Parent company American Classic Voyages also operates cruises on inland waterways on the mainland and on both U.S. coasts.