A family owned tour company will offer weeklong cruises of southeast Alaska next year that start and end in Sitka.

A spokesman for Allen Marine Tours told the Sitka Sentinel that the company will lease two former Cruise West vessels for the trips.

The eight-day, seven-night cruises will circumnavigate Admiralty Island with stops that focus on culture, history, wildlife and the environment, Cagle said.

The former Cruise West vessels, Spirit of Columbia and Spirit of Alaska, have been renamed Admiralty Dream and Baranof Dream. Each will carry 70 passengers. Allen Marine Tours earlier this year bought the 40-passenger Executive Explorer and renamed it Alaskan Dream.

News of the new venture was welcomed in Sitka. City Finance Director Dave Wolff said tax revenue has diminished with a 45 percent decline in cruise ship visitors the past two years,

Allen Marine will operate tours May 14 through Sept. 3, with stops in Hoonah at Icy Strait Point, Glacier Bay, Juneau, Tracy Arm and Hobart Bay. Cagle said passengers should have time ashore in the various ports.

Allen Marine was founded 41 years ago by Bob Allen as a boat-building business. Allen Marine Tours offers day tours on high-speed catamarans in Sitka, Ketchikan and Juneau.

The company also builds custom vessels, including oceanographic research boats.