WASHINGTON — Hawai'i Gov. Linda Lingle teamed with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday to again state their concerns about a proposed federal rule that threatens to dramatically change the way many foreign-flagged cruise ships run their itineraries.

In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, the two governors urged him to reject proposed rule changes because it would "adversely impact the Hawai'i and California cruise industries and harm the economies of the two states."

"While the intent of this rule is to protect U.S. flagged ships, it is likely instead to result in unintended, disastrous consequences and cause wide-ranging economic damage in Hawai'i, California and throughout the rest of the country," Lingle and Schwarzenegger said in the letter.

(See a copy of the letter at right.)

The rule change, proposed by Customs and Border Protection agency, would require most cruise ships calling at more than one U.S. port to stay 48 hours at foreign ports compared with the brief stops they make under the existing rule.

Ships also would have to spend more than half their port time in foreign ports and passengers have to be given the opportunity to go ashore.

It is aimed at helping the U.S.-flagged ships operated by Norwegian Cruise Lines America on Hawaiian cruises compete with foreign-flagged cruise lines sailing from California. Almost all cruise ships operating from U.S. ports are registered in foreign nations to avoid the cost of meeting U.S. labor, health, safety and environmental standards.

The rule's impact could have much broader implications, imperiling cruises from U.S. ports to Alaska, Canada, New England and some to the Caribbean, according to critics.

Glen Vereb, the customs chief overseeing the cruise industry, said the rule change, first proposed in November, is still being reviewed.

"It's progressing through the rule-making process but we're still awaiting clearance from the Department of Homeland Security," Vereb said.

The governors said the rule would disrupt an industry that brings billions of dollars and more than 50,000 jobs to their two states and jeopardizes an estimated $17 billion in cruise spending. Nationally, more than 300,000 jobs are generated by the international cruise lines industry, they said.