Titan Cruises must prove by May 31 that it will sail. St. Petersburg's budget counts on it.
By CARRIE JOHNSON
Published May 27, 2003
ST. PETERSBURG - Five months after city officials announced a gambling ship would sail from the Port of St. Petersburg, Titan Cruises still seems more like wishful thinking than reality.
No 450-foot ship sits in the city's harbor, no hordes of eager tourists gather at the docks. The city hasn't even signed the lease that will allow Titan to use the port.
But now a new group of investors has taken over the project. And while there are still no guarantees, they say Titan Cruises, the butt of local jokes and a source of eye-rolling frustration among City Council members, will be a St. Petersburg tourist attraction before the end of the year.
"We're ordering escalators for the ship as we speak," said Howard Steffes, the new CEO of Titan Cruise Lines Inc. "It will be here."
The company has until May 31 to produce evidence that proves it has purchased a ship and has the capital to turn it into a working enterprise. Otherwise, the city is free to look for other prospects to fill the space now reserved for Titan.
But Steffes said he's confident his company will meet the city's demands.
During an interview last week at Titan's new headquarters at Bay View Towers, 100 First Ave. S, Steffes produced a bill of sale that lists Titan Cruise Lines as the new owner of the Ocean Empress, a former car ferry and floating eye surgery hospital, although he would not disclose the sale price.
He also displayed pictures of the Polish-built ship, which is currently in dry dock in Ajman, a port city in the United Arab Emirates. The hospital equipment has been removed from the interior and the hull is being repainted under the supervision of two newly hired Titan employees, Steffes said.
Blueprints kept at the office show plans for a nightclub, a restaurant and a private room for parties. The main floor will be dominated by a giant casino with slot machines possibly installed on an upper deck.
"This is going to be different from any of the other ships anywhere in Florida," Steffes predicted. "I feel extremely good about this. We hope to be a really good thing for the city of St. Petersburg."
Tickets are expected to cost $20 per person for the six- or seven-hour cruises, which will include a buffet. The company plans to run two cruises per day.
From Ajman, the ship will journey to Croatia for berth work. Paul Barbour, the company's chief financial officer, predicted it will sail into St. Petersburg sometime in October. Cruises could start as early as November, he said.
City officials are banking on it. Built into the 2004 budget is a projected $325,000 increase in revenue for the city's port, due to the Titan Cruise ship.
"We feel very comfortable with the new group," said Joe Zeoli, the city's director of waterfront enterprise. "They bring a lot of professional expertise to this project."
Titan will pay dockage fees of $108,000 per year and give the city $2 per passenger. Zeoli has predicted the cruise line will bring more than $800,000 in revenue to the city each year.
City officials are expected to meet with Titan representatives this week. Mayor Rick Baker said he doesn't see any reason why the lease between the city and Titan for dock space at the Port can't be executed.
"All indications are positive at this point," he said.
Baker first announced the deal with Titan Cruise Line in December. Questions about the fledgling company surfaced immediately after the owners expressed reluctance to answer basic questions, including the location of the ship.
Then it was disclosed the chairman of the company, Mark Juliano, had troubles with the IRS in the 1990s.
Steffes, an entrepreneur from Napersville, Ill., was an early investor in the project, as were three of his childhood friends: Larry Capista, Robert Schenk and Thomas Dempsey.
As the four men put more money into the project, they decided they wanted more control. Eventually, they agreed to buy the company from the former operators, Michael Huegel and Bradley Prader.
Barbour was part of the original team, but left in February. He said he had planned to rejoin once the new investors took over Titan.
Steffes, 50, calls himself a "professional buck-sniffer." He has experience in home building, a paper-coating factory and natural gas wells, but has never been involved with a cruise line or a casino. Neither have his partners.
But Steffes doesn't see that as an obstacle.
Steffes and his partners pooled their money to launch Titan Cruises and say they aren't seeking any outside investors or requesting any loans. Steffes said he didn't want to discuss how much the venture would cost.
He also declined to estimate how many customers the cruise line would need per day in order to break even, saying he was still researching the subject.
The company plans to hire between 350 and 400 employees over the next few months. While they have three offices in Bay View Towers, they plan to relocate, Barbour said.
"We were hoping to stay in this building but they're so well rented there may not be enough space for us," he said.
Their next order of business is picking a new name for the Ocean Empress. While the former owners planned to call the ship the Spirit of St. Petersburg, Steffes said the name was too generic.
But they do plan to keep St. Petersburg in the title.
"The mayor was very clear on that point," Steffes said.
