Alaska.com: Alaska's Travel Website

Cruise West, a small-ship cruise line founded in Alaska, announced Wednesday it is selling off assets and taking other steps to restructure the company.

The Seattle-based company said earlier this week it had new owners but it did not identify them.

The first move in the restructuring, Cruise West said Wednesday, was the early termination of the company's Spirit of Oceanus' global sea voyage, which had been scheduled to visit 59 countries between April this year and February next year. The company has also suspended accepting any new bookings on other cruises. The company said it will complete all other cruises and land tours scheduled through October, including ones that are "already underway" in Alaska.

The company, founded by the late Chuck West, an Alaska tourism pioneer, removed all of the tour-related information on its website on Wednesday. The only thing left on the website was its restructuring announcement.

The company said it would not respond to media requests at this time.

The last few lines of the announcement read, "Cruise West believes that small is beautiful. Small-ship explorations allow up-close and personal experiences unmatched by the traditional larger cruise lines. For nearly 64 years, Cruise West has provided authentic travel experiences."

Find Elizabeth Bluemink online at adn.com/contact/ebluemink or call 257-4317.