NCL Pulls Pride of Aloha from Hawaii: US Mariner Wages Blamed

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First we witnessed trouble for the Hawaii Superferry (which is back in service) now Hawaii’s largest source of jobs for U.S. mariners, Norwegian Cruise Lines, is pulling another ship out of the state. The Mercury News tells us;

Last week, NCL announced it will pull the Pride of Aloha, the ship that launched its Hawaii itinerary in 2004, effective May 11.

Earlier this month, NCL’s Pride of Hawaii made its final sailing before being deployed to Europe, a move announced last April. It will be renamed Norwegian Jade.

NCL officials insist they remain committed to the Hawaiian market – Pride of America sailings were recently put on sale through 2010 – but filling three ships consistently for seven-day sailings was too difficult in a competitive field.

Andy Stuart, the line’s executive vice president of marketing, called the move “an extremely difficult but necessary commercial decision.” He also acknowledged that NCL’s costs were considerably higher because its U.S.-flagged ships must be filled by a U.S. workforce. Foreign-flagged ships typically pay their crews lower wages. Continue Reading…