Tour operators and other Haines businesses may be left holding bills for Cruise West, a 37-year-old cruise line with local ties that announced a “restructuring” last week and stopped answering its phone.

It has since sold its largest vessel, the 120-passenger Spirit of Oceanus, suspended bookings, and replaced its website with a press release.

Seattle-based Cruise West once had as many as 80 dockings in Haines, although that number was cut in recent years, with sailings shifted to other Southeast ports. This season, only the Spirit of Discovery made weekly stops here at the Chilkat Cruises dock.

The company was launched by tourism legend Chuck West, who maintained a home here for decades. He died in 2005.

“We’re all hoping to get paid,” said tour operator Joe Ordonez. “When you do business with someone, there’s a certain trust there. But when they don’t answer their phone or respond to e-mails, you don’t feel good.”

The company’s last docking here was Aug. 17.

Ordonez and other operators are hoping the company doesn’t go the way of Exploration Cruise Lines and Glacier Bay Cruises, similar companies with small boats that failed in recent decades. Exploration left more than $100,000 in local unpaid bills.

Ordonez said Cruise West likely owes at least tens of thousands of dollars to Haines businesses.

Local firms have been aware for more than a year that the company’s been struggling, and some outfits cut off business with the firm or demanded forward payment due to late or unpaid bills. Ordonez said he hasn’t been paid since mid-August.

“I haven’t had any indication about bankruptcy or whether I’m in line (to get paid). I’ve heard nothing back from my main contact in the accounting department,” he said.

Cruise West also owes money to the Chilkat Guides and River Adventures. Karen Hess of River Adventures said she figures the company’s list of creditors spans the region. “It’s pretty upsetting. Chuck West would be rolling in his grave. He loved this town.”

Ordonez said Cruise West has been important to him, helping giving his tour company a start when he only had one van. “They didn’t require me to have huge buses or vans. They were the first (cruise company) to pick me up. They really helped me to grow.”

Cruise West boats typically catered to a different kind of cruise passenger, he said. “They were educated people who were interested in the community. The boats had all-American crews. There’s only a few American-crewed ships still around.”

Company ships operating elsewhere in Alaska this year included Spirit of Yorktown, Spirit of Endeavor, Spirit of Columbia and Island Spirit.