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Travel Cruise Adventures :: American Hawaii Cruises
American Hawaii Cruises:
The Downfall of American Hawaii Classic Voyages Cruises
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American Hawaii Cruises filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2001 shortly before ceasing all its operations.
The company, officially known as American Classic Voyages operated for 21 years before selling of its SS Independence ship.
To learn more about American Hawaii Cruises, the company’s history and how they came to bankruptcy, keep reading.
The Beginning of American Hawaii Cruises
American Hawaii Cruises (AHC) was first formed in 1979 with a market focus on being the only cruise ship flying an American flag and running Hawaiian cruises.
Because U.S. customs law forbids foreign ships from running U.S. itineraries without stopping at least one foreign port of call, AHC had a monopoly on the small island runs.
The company purchased the Oceanic Independence, a ship originally built in 1951, from the Atlantic Far East Line, and renovated it. To return the American-built ship to the U.S. ships’ registry, AHC actually had to get a special act of congress.
By June 1980, AHC was running regular, weeklong cruises of the Hawaiian islands.
AHC Growth and Development
As the cruise line grew, American made moves to purchase the SS Independence. They also bought the Constitution, a pre-1951 luxury liner and refitted it to make similar sailings around the islands. At the time, the two ships were the only U.S.-flagged cruise ships operating in the world.
In 1994, American Hawaii Cruises put a massive investment into refitting the Independence and the Constitution. Unfortunately, they couldn’t afford the Constitution renovations and the ship was docked in Portland in 1995, eventually sold for spare parts and scrap metal in 1997.
Instead, AHC began to make announcements that they would soon add brand-new, U.S.-built ships to their fleet. Commissioned to Ingalls Shipyard, AHC started to build two 1900-passenger ships intended to sail in 2003. Unfortunately, the company never made it to see those ships sail.
The Downfall of American Hawaii
On October 19, 2001, after a year of disrupted service, overbooking, staff cuts and severe cash crunches, American Classic Voyages files for bankruptcy court protection and stopped operating all its ships except for one – the historic Delta Queen, which ran Mississippi River trips.
All ships currently sailing were docked as soon as they reached their final port.
The company blamed Sep 11 for a downturn in its bookings, however rumors about their poor financial performance had been circulating for the past year.
Once the shares reached a paltry 46 cents, Nasdaq halted trading on the shares. All prior bookings were canceled, leaving passengers without reciprocation or refunds.
Today, the American Hawaii Cruises’ landmark ship, the SS Independence, belongs to the US Maritime Administration. It’s kept with the American reserve fleet at Suisuin Bay.
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Travel-Cruise-Adventures.com :: American Hawaii Cruises