Norwegian Cruise Line's Pride of Hawai'i will be renamed Norwegian Jade when it leaves the Islands and heads for Europe next year.

Yesterday's announcement from the company also confirms that the company will change the ship from a U.S.-flagged vessel to a foreign flag by registering it in the Bahamas.

The Miami-based company announced last week that it will remove the largest of its three ships home-ported in Hawai'i next year in response to company losses that can be traced in large part to the Hawai'i operation. NCL said pricing pressures in the Hawai'i market contributed to a $116 million loss at the company in the fourth quarter.

While it's still Pride of Hawai'i, the ship will continue seven-day round-trip Honolulu cruises through the Jan. 28, 2008 cruise.

A cruise line spokeswoman said the ship will be repainted — losing the flowers on the hull — for the changeover in Hono-lulu before setting off for Europe. The ship will enter wet dock on Feb. 6, where workers also will add a casino to the ship.

The Pride of Hawai'i began service last June. After leaving Honolulu in February, the 2,466-passenger ship will make stops in Los Angeles and Miami and then to Spain, with the first 12-day cruise set to begin March 30 from Barcelona.

The growth in the cruise industry has been a bright spot for the local tourism industry, which recently saw a dip in arrivals and a decline in hotel occupancy.

Company officials said the combination of the higher costs of running three U.S.-flagged NCL ships plus competition from other cruise lines had pushed prices down too far.

The company said it remains committed to keeping the other two U.S.-flagged ships here: the Pride of Aloha and the Pride of America.

The U.S.-flagged NCL America ships can operate interisland cruises by agreeing that 75 percent of ship crew members will be U.S. citizens and can transport passengers between U.S. ports without visiting a foreign port along the way, which foreign-flagged ships cannot do.

Historically, the cruise industry has relied on ships based in foreign ports that hire workers from developing countries with larger pools of people willing to work long hours, often for less pay and under more difficult conditions than their American counterparts.

The Norwegian Jade will arrive in Europe at the end of March 2008 and stay through November, sailing Mediterranean cruises, then head to the United Kingdom for a series of cruises to the Mediterranean, North Cape, Western Europe and the British Isles.

Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.