The Hapag-Lloyd cruise ship MS Columbus, a small luxury ship that has sailed a Great Lakes itinerary for almost a decade, will not be returning to the Great Lakes next year after completing currently scheduled cruises in October.

The German cruise line said that even though the final three cruises of the 423-passenger Columbus are sold out, low water levels in the Great Kajes have led to the decision to pull the luxury cruise ship from the U.S. market.

The water levels in Lake Michigan and Lake Huron are down 3 to 4 feet since the late 1990s, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Hapag Lloyd announcing a year ago that it was dropping Sault Ste. Marie from its itinerary because of water levels.

The Hapag Lloyd decision leaves just one much smaller ship, the 100-passenger Grande Mariner, sailing Great Lakes itineraries in 2008.

While a majority of passengers who sale on the Columbus are German, a number of Americans also like the Great Lakes cruises with their U.S. and Canadian ports of call.