Complex sentence: Being a U.S. flagged vessel, "Pride of Aloha" required a crew of U.S. citizens and this made for a difficult start as there was no established labor market to tap into.
Split into simpler sentences: Being a U.S. flagged vessel, "Pride of Aloha" requires a crew of U.S. citizens. This made for a difficult launch as there was no established labor market to tap into.