Norwegian optimistic
despite shipyard woesPride of America's builder has
filed for bankruptcy protection
Norwegian Cruise Line's bookings were up yesterday despite news that the company's efforts to bring a new U.S.-flagged ship to Hawaii might be further delayed while the shipbuilder restructures.
"Despite the challenges that have arisen along the way, bookings continue to be strong," said Robert Kritzman, senior vice president for NCL America, Norwegian's division for U.S.-flagged operations, adding that he doesn't expect Lloyd Werft's bankruptcy proceedings to negatively impact Norwegian.
Tickets already have been sold for Pride of America and close to 1,100 crew members have been hired for it and its sister vessel, Pride of Aloha, he said.
"The employees that we have hired to date will have places to work for us on Pride of Aloha," Kritzman said. "We won't know if we'll have to slow our hiring process until we have a better indication of when the second ship will be delivered."
The shipyard told the Associated Press the vessel is to be salvaged next week.
Pride of America was scheduled to sail into Hawaii's waters in July, but the ship took on water in a storm in Germany so the cruise line had to swap the ship's schedule with the Pride of Aloha in order to press ahead with the planned July 4 launch of a U.S.-flagged cruise ship in Hawaii.
After the accident, Norwegian withheld one of the payments for the ship, sending Lloyd-Werft into trouble, company head Werner Luecken told the Associated Press.
The shipbuilder had no choice but to file for bankruptcy, in hopes of raising up to $9.5 million in credit, he said.
The Pride of America, along with the 1,900-passenger Pride of Aloha, will run interisland service under the NCL America line. They are to join the Norwegian Wind, which will continue operating round-trip cruises to the former Fanning Island, now known as Tabuaeran.
The Pride of America and the Pride of Aloha are the first American-flagged cruise ships to operate in Hawaiian waters since 1991. They are foreign-built, but allowed to fly under U.S. flags because of a provision pushed by Hawaii's congressional delegation and passed by President Bush.
Although the builder's reorganization process could cause further delays for Pride of America, Norwegian officials are pushing to keep the ship building on track, Kritzman said.
"We are hopeful that we can keep people working on the ship," Kritzman said. "There are other yards in the area that are in receivership that have continued to operate."
