S. Florida gambling boats cruising to oblivion

Posted on Tue, Aug. 12, 2008
S. Florida gambling boats cruising to oblivion

BY PATRICK DANNER
South Florida's floating-gaming industry may be running out of luck.
SeaEscape Entertainment, the only gaming vessel left at Port Everglades, on Monday informed Broward County its last sailings from Port Everglades will be Sunday. In recent months, Horizon's Edge Casino Cruises and Aquasino have ceased operations in Miami-Dade County.
And Palm Beach Princess is on the auction block -- raising the possibility that a buyer may want to relocate the vessel from Port of Palm Beach. If that happens, it could leave SunCruz Casinos in Key Largo the only remaining floating-gambling business in South Florida.
Once the only game in town for gamblers wanting a fix of slots or table games, the so-called cruise-to-nowhere operators are the big losers in the Seminoles' expansion into Las Vegas-style gaming and the addition of slots at Broward racetracks. Miami-Dade parimutuels got voter approval this year to add slots, too.
''Those boats, in my view, are finito, finished, over,'' said David O. Ehlers, a Las Vegas investment advisor who follows gaming operators.
Added Joseph Weinert, a gaming analyst with Spectrum Gaming Group: ``I think the [state's] compact with the Seminoles, so long as that's in force, takes away any competitive advantage the boats have.''
SeaEscape, in a letter to Broward County commissioners Monday, said it was ending operations at Port Everglades on Sunday because of a number of factors, said port director Phil Allen. SeaEscape, in the letter, cited shore-side competition, the economy and high operating costs at the port for its decision to call it quits, Allen said.
MUM ON PLANS
SeaEscape Mark Lipof declined to comment on the company's plans, saying it would make a ''big announcement'' at Tuesday's Broward County Commission meeting.
Discussion among crew is that SeaEscape will leave for Port Canaveral. The Port Canaveral Commission is holding a special meeting Tuesday to talk about ''industry interest in Port Canaveral regarding day cruises and shorter cruises,'' a spokeswoman said in an e-mail. She declined to comment on SeaEscape.
Asked about the odds of Port Everglades finding a gaming-boat operator to replace SeaEscape, Allen called it ``less than even.''
''I think the models that are out there aren't working,'' Allen said. ``That's not to say someone won't develop a new model.''
SeaEscape, while current on payments to the port, had failed to maintain reserves. That prompted the port to terminate a wharfage agreement with SeaEscape and require SeaEscape to pay fees in advance, Allen said.
UNPAID CREW
Another sign SeaEscape may have cash-flow issues: Some crew claim they haven't been paid their salaries. Miami maritime lawyer Ross B. Toyne last week sued M/V Island Adventure, SeaEscape's vessel, on behalf of six crew members.
''SeaEscape don't pay us,'' said Antonio Flores, a bartender from Lima, Peru, in broken English. Flores claimed he hadn't received two months' salary. ``They don't have solution. We're very worried about it.''
Lipof, SeaEscape's spokesman, declined to comment on the lawsuit.
ROUGH WATERS
SeaEscape isn't the first gaming boat in Broward to have problems. St. Tropez Casino Cruises went bankrupt three years ago, a month after SunCruz Casinos stopped sailing in Hollywood.
Aquasino, formerly the Atlantic Casino, folded in June after trying to make a go of it at Miami Beach Marina.
Robert Christoph Sr., president of the company that owns the marina, said he's already leased the space to a megayacht broker.
''The gaming-boat business was always somewhat handicapped,'' Christoph said. Passengers must spend four or five hours on a boat, a curse for someone who has been unlucky. By the same token, Christoph noted, a passenger with a hot hand has to stop playing once the boat returns to state territorial waters.
Aquasino is now being sued by some former employees, who allege tips from customers were used to pay wages of managers. An Aquasino official didn't respond to a request for comment.
The employees' lawyer, Peter Valori of Miami, also is representing about 70 former employees of Horizon's Edge, who claim they weren't given 60 days notice as required by federal regulations before the vessel stopped sailing in May.
''Both of these cases arise out of the same market conditions,'' Valori said. ''It seems to me the industry is waning and may disappear completely. I don't see how they are going to survive.'' Horizon's Edge officials didn't return calls.
OPTIMISTIC
Mark Calvert, the bankruptcy trustee overseeing an auction of the Palm Beach Princess, which operates from Port of Palm Beach, isn't ready to predict the industry's death in South Florida. Four of five parties interested in the vessel want to maintain operations at the port, he said. ''The highest and best use for that vessel is as a gaming vessel right where she's at,'' Calvert said, noting the Seminoles don't offer craps or sports betting. An auction last month failed to lead to a sale. Another auction for the vessel is planned for Aug. 28.

Hope all is well with you and family 5teamer. I assume the Rock gig is going good and the 21 coming on board will be of little effect to you.

Good times and hope to see you again.

was a garbage boat, indians destroyed them.

Send them to Texas.

GreenDoberman said:

Hope all is well with you and family 5teamer. I assume the Rock gig is going good and the 21 coming on board will be of little effect to you.

Good times and hope to see you again.

Click to expand...

I hope I'm speaking accurately when I mention that 5TP told me Blackjack kicks in up here in November and the dealers are expected to be raking $50+ per hour

I was unclear as to whether he would be doing 21 in addition to his existing poker gig

oh my god!!! what will Fishhead do if the casino boats go away!:shocked:

Gambling ship down on its luck

By Robert Nolin | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
August 16, 2008

An international crew of 170 is marooned at a berth in Port Everglades aboard the financially foundering SeaEscape gambling ship.

The crew members, who haven't been paid for two to six months, are confined to the vessel while federal agencies, lawyers and the boat's owners sort out millions in debt owed by the gambling ship's masters.

"This is the death throes of a sinking vessel. This ship is going down," said Ross Toyne, a Miami lawyer representing 14 crew members. "The competition with the land-based casinos is just too much."

Toyne said immigration officials boarded the ship Thursday and collected all crew members' visas and passports, preventing them from setting foot on U.S. soil.

Jose Castellano, spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, declined to discuss the confiscation of the documents. "As far as what actually was done, I can't comment on that," he said.

Toyne filed a federal lawsuit Friday, asking the government to seize the ship and turn it over to a custodian to be sold or scrapped to satisfy millions of dollars in claims from crew members, fuel providers, the port and other debtors. The attorney was not optimistic.

"This vessel has a really low value," he said.

SeaEscape, which offered day cruises to international waters for casino gambling, will set sail from Port Everglades for the last time on Sunday. The ship has been berthed there for 21 years. Expensive fuel and a struggling economy have caused an 11 percent decline in boardings this year.

In his lawsuit, Toyne listed the owners as either Cruise Charter Ltd. or Maddox Trading 5 Inc. SeaEscape spokesman Mark Lipof would not discuss the case.

"SeaEscape would never make a comment on any pending litigation," he said.

Leslie Warrick, director of Seafarer's House, a nonprofit operation that offers assistance and hospitality to the mostly foreign crews who call at the port, said those stranded aboard the SeaEscape have adequate provisions.

"They seemed relaxed, calm, nobody reaching out or looking for urgent assistance," she said.

Port spokeswoman Maisy Alpert said the port will continue to provide the boat with water and other services. Jennifer Johnson of the Coast Guard said her agency is also making sure crew members have proper food and housing. "We are monitoring that, but everything looks in place as of now," she said.

Toyne, however, painted a different picture of the crew's state of mind. "They're all on pins and needles," he said. "They've been running low on quality food for the last week and a half."

Castellano of Customs said he hopes the situation will be resolved within a week.

"Our duty is to ensure that they return home, and we are in the process of doing that," he said.

Posted on Sat, Aug. 23, 2008
Judge orders seizure of SeaEscape casino ship

BY PATRICK DANNER
SeaEscape Entertainment crew members who claim they have not been paid for months obtained a warrant to have the vessel seized by U.S. marshals.
U.S. District Judge Patricia Seitz on Thursday ordered the arrest of the SeaEscape gaming vessel, known as the M/V Island Adventure, after 14 crew members sued in admiralty court for at least $28,000 in unpaid wages.
The order comes nearly two weeks after SeaEscape's last passenger cruise from Port Everglades. SeaEscape cited competition from casinos, operating costs and the economy for ceasing operations. The vessel remains at Port Everglades, which charges it a $2,200-a-day dockage fee.
SeaEscape officials did not respond to a request for comment. Its website says it will relocate to a new port in the next few weeks. A SeaEscape executive made a presentation to Port Canaveral's commission last week.
It wasn't immediately known when U.S. marshals will detain the ship, but a seizure could complicate SeaEscape's plans unless it resolves the dispute with crew members. They remain on the ship unable to return to their home countries, according to Ross B. Toyne, their Miami lawyer.
''Unless they get additional capital, this ship will not resume operations,'' Toyne said. He represents about 14 workers who have not been paid as much as eight months' salary, and he said he has been contacted by at least 20 others on the ship.
''It's the only way to ensure the crew members will be paid their wages,'' Toyne said of his decision to file court papers seeking the vessel's arrest.
Admiralty law generally is very protective of seamen. When the vessel has been seized, Toyne said he will ask the court to schedule an auction of the ship. Proceeds would go to pay crew.
The Bahamian-flagged Island Adventure, built in 1976, is owned by Cruise Charter Ltd., also of the Bahamas, according to www.Equasis.org.
National Maritime Services of Fort Lauderdale was appointed the ship's custodian, assuming responsibility for the safekeeping of the vessel.
Cruise-to-nowhere operators have struggled against shore-side competitors, particularly the Seminoles with their expansion into Las Vegas-style gaming. In recent months, Horizon's Edge Casino Cruises and Aquasino ceased operations in Miami-Dade County. The parent of Palm Beach Princess, which sails from Port of Palm Beach, is in bankruptcy. The vessel is scheduled to be auctioned next week.