Ever since the bankruptcy of American Classic Voyages following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, only cruise ships arriving from foreign ports, or arriving from mainland ports which also include a stop in non-U.S. territory, have been permitted to make port calls in Hawaii.
These restrictions stem from a series of laws enacted in the 1920's commonly referred to as the Jones Act. Among other things the laws require that only American owned ships transport goods and people between American ports. These laws have continually been supported by Congress and U.S. Presidents.
Unfortunately, however, gone are the days where there were cruise ships owned by American companies and sailing under U.S. flags. For primarily tax benefits and cost savings reasons such as crew salaries, even cruise lines headquartered in the United States elect to flag their ships in foreign countries, such as Panama and Liberia.
The effect of the Jones Act and the lack of American flagged cruise ships has been that cruises totally within the Hawaiian Islands have been virtually non-existent.
From 1980 until 2001, only three ships ships have cruised exclusively in the Hawaiian Islands, the S.S. Independence, the S.S. Constitution and, for a short time the M.S. Patriot, all owned by American Hawaiian Cruises, a subsidiary of American Classic Voyages. Cruises exclusively in the Hawaiian Islands ended with the aforementioned bankruptcy of American Classic Voyages.
Since that time, several cruise lines have sailed intermittently in Hawaiian waters, all of which include calls of port in a foreign country. Many actually depart from Canada or Mexico.
Norwegian Cruise Line, which is based in Miami, has been the leader in Hawaiian cruises since 2001. Their ship, the Norwegian Star, however, makes a trip to Fanning Island in the Republic of Kiribati on each of its inter-island cruises.
The recently passed bill, will allow Norwegian to eliminate this extra stop and cruise exclusively within the waters of Hawaii. Under the terms of the bill, Norwegian Cruise Line will be permitted to sail foreign-built ships under a U.S. flag in Hawaii waters.
Opponents to the bill, under pressure from rival cruise lines, required that the bill include a provision that these newly flagged ships will not transport passengers in revenue service to ports in Alaska, the Gulf of Mexico or the Caribbean Sea. In addition, no federal money will be used in this project.
Norwegian plans to finish building overseas two partly built cruise ships destined for Hawaii under American Classic Voyages' failed ship building initiative which was called "Project America," and then sail them exclusively in Hawaii. It also allows the cruise line to re-flag an additional cruise ship (the Norwegian Star) already in operation.
In an additional boon to the Hawaiian economy and tourist industry, the bill requires Norwegian to employ American crews to man the ships. Norwegian has promised that a majority of the hiring will be with Hawaii residents. It is expected that as many as 3000 new jobs will be created for Hawaii residents once all three ships are in operation.
