Isle cruises unaffected

Two cruise liners operating in Hawaiian waters were unaffected by this week's shut down of the nation's airports. Both had all their passengers on board and were in the middle of week-long cruises when the disaster happened.

The S.S. Independence, based in Kahului, Maui, and operated by American Hawaii Cruises, was at Honolulu's Pier 10 Wednesday and yesterday for the normal two-day stopover in its weekly cruise schedule and left for Kauai at 5 p.m. yesterday.

Because it loaded its passengers in Kahului two days before the mainland disaster halted air travel, it was not affected.

The ms Patriot, based in Honolulu and operated by United States Lines, began its cruise in Honolulu Saturday night and also had all its passengers aboard before the nation's air travel was disrupted. The ship was due at Kona this morning and is set to start its next cruise tomorrow.

Both lines are owned by Miami-headquartered American Classic Voyages Inc.

"The ships aren't scheduled to sail until Saturday," said a company spokeswoman Fran Sevcik. She said the ships may leave late on their departure dates if it appears they need to wait for passengers to arrive from the mainland.

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[TAKING NOTICE]

NEW JOBS

>> Kevin Haseyama has been named vice president and financial risk manager of the Treasury department at American Savings Bank. He was most recently senior vice president at The Kamakura Corp.

>> Laura Ayers has joined the staff at Philip K. White and Associates Ltd. She will be responsible for conducting site analysis, developing product drawings and serving as a liaison to structural engineering companies. Ayers joins White and Associates after serving as an architect at Sonoc Architects in Illinois.

PROMOTIONS

>> Michael Colby has been named senior vice president and general manager of the commercial insurance division at Island Insurance. He will be responsible for commercial underwriting, product development, loss control, premium audit and surety bonds personnel and operations. Colby, who has more than 24 years of experience in the industry, joined Island Insurance last year.