Norwegian Cruise Line’s (NCL) Pride of America, the largest U.S.-flagged ship ever built and the first newly constructed cruise ship to join the U.S. register in nearly 50 years, will make its maiden voyage to Hawai‘i late next month. Nawiliwili
Norwegian Cruise Line’s (NCL) Pride of America, the largest U.S.-flagged ship ever built and the first newly constructed cruise ship to join the U.S. register in nearly 50 years, will make its maiden voyage to Hawai‘i late next month.
Nawiliwili Harbor security will not be an issue.
The Pride of America is scheduled to arrive on Kaua‘i Thursday, July 21, as part of a special cruise from San Francisco, and will then begin regular weekly overnight visits Thursday, July 28. The seven-day cruises from Honolulu will feature a day in Hilo on the Big Island; two days in Kahului, Maui; a day in Kona on the Big Island; and two days in Nawiliwili.
State Department of Transportation Harbors Division Nawiliwili Harbormaster Bob Crowell said Nawiliwili Harbor met all U.S. Coast Guard security specifications.
U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Todd Offutt said because the ship was christened in New York and drew most of the attention and exposure at that venue, normal security standards will abide for the Nawiliwili arrivals and departures.
“All ships that come have the same risk assessment and security standards. We work with all involved. We have a lot of cruise ships, and this is just like any other.”
Offutt cited the Maritime Transportation Security Act (MTSA) of 2002 as the basis for a comprehensive, consistent security program.
MTSA, signed in November 2002, is designed to protect the nation’s ports and waterways from a terrorist attack. The law is the U.S equivalent of the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS), and was fully implemented on July 1, 2004.
Offutt said ships’ captains have to contact port officials 96 hours prior to arrival, and that information is shared with local entities.
MTSA also mandated the creation of local Area Maritime Security Committees whose members are tasked with collaborating on plans to secure their ports. Offutt said harbor assets are secure and well monitored.
Offutt said Coast Guard officers conducted a facilities check at Nawiliwili Harbor earlier this month, and conduct regular spot checks, some announced, some not.
Chad Lovell of Communications Pacific, a firm that handles publicity for NCL, said after a series of coastal sailings along the U.S. East Coast and along southern states, Pride of America would go through the Panama Canal, then set sail from San Francisco Tuesday, July 12, on a special “revenue cruise,” or, a cruise with paying passengers, and would reach ports in Hilo, Kona and Kahului before arriving in Nawiliwili July 21.
Robbie Kaholokula, tourism specialist for the county Office of Economic Development, said plans were being formed to greet the ship Thursday, July 28, on the occasion of its first, regular, overnight stay. He said the greeting would be a bit more elaborate than the standard greeting extended to established visiting ships.
Sue Kanoho, executive director of the Kaua‘i Visitors Bureau, said “the increase in passenger arrivals should provide additional business for the various activities and shopping centers on island.”
The Pride of America is 926 feet long, and can accommodate 2,144 passengers based on double occupancy, according to Lovell.
According to an NCL press release, as the first, new, oceangoing passenger ship in nearly half a century to sail under the U.S. flag, Pride of America will visit all four main islands in weeklong itineraries, and offer passengers up to 100 hours in port, more than any other cruise line sailing the islands.
NCL leaders launched all-Hawai‘i cruises last summer with their Pride of Aloha, which was re-registered as a U.S.-flagged ship, and plans to add a third ship, the Pride of Hawaii, in May or June 2006, Lovell said. He added that, because of legalities, the ships won’t have casinos. Casinos are considered a key revenue source for most ocean liners.
According to the Miami Herald, Oivind Mathisen, editor and co-publisher of Cruise Industry News, said NCL’s aloha gambit still needs time to prove itself. But in an industry dominated by two cruise lines, he sees it as a way for a smaller outfit like NCL to carve out a niche.
According to a March 15 edition of Cruise Industry News, 11.1 million passengers are forecast to cruise on the fleet of the member cruise lines of the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) in 2005, according to the organization’s Chairman Andy Stuart, who is also executive vice president of marketing, sales and passenger services for NCL.
Net cruise capacity will be up about 4.6 percent year-over-year from 2004, which counted an estimated 10.6 million passengers, according to Stuart. Of those 10.6 million passengers, 9 million were North Americans, and 1.6 million were international passengers.
