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Port losing out on casino boaters

Thousands of Ocean Jewel passengers choose the new John's Pass ferry in April.

By MELANIE AVE
Published May 13, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - The number of Ocean Jewel passengers leaving from the port has dropped by about half since the gambling ship also began operating shuttles out of John's Pass.

Joe Zeoli, St. Petersburg's managing director for city development, told a City Council committee Thursday that the ship had 21,298 passengers in March, when it was only operating out of the port.

In April, when it added a second ferry location at John's Pass in Treasure Island, the total number of passengers dropped to 19,269. About 58 percent of them, or 11,144, came from the port and 42 percent of them, or 8,125, came from John's Pass.

"We're starting to see a downward trend," Zeoli said during a preliminary report to the committee.

City administrators are evaluating the effect on city revenues. St. Petersburg receives $2 for every passenger that boards the Ocean Jewel at the port, as well as dockage and parking fees. It receives nothing from John's Pass passengers.

Zeoli said the city continues to make money from the Ocean Jewel, roughly a minimum of $50,000 monthly.

Despite the drop in passengers, ship officials said they expect the numbers at the two locations to grow. Michael Hlavsa, Titan Cruise Lines chief executive officer, called the dip last month an anomaly caused by bad weather, mechanical problems and negative publicity.

"If we wouldn't have had cancellations because of the weather and mechanical issues, I believe passenger counts overall would have increased by 50 percent and a larger portion of those would have come from the port," said Hlavsa. Titan is the Ocean Jewel's parent company.

Two shuttles will be running at both locations by the end of May, he said.

Several council members said Thursday they were disappointed because they thought the Ocean Jewel would be more of a day cruise operation than solely a casino ship so it could help invigorate the struggling port. "I don't want to run them out of town," council member Bill Foster said. "I was on the ship and it was a great experience. What I'm a little down on is, it's not what we bargained for."

The city is considering a request by Titan to relocate from the port to the Pier. The ship saw a jump in business when it operated there temporarily during the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in April.

Zeoli, who is evaluating the request, expressed some reservations. He said the move would turn the Pier into a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week facility, boost security costs and cause parking dilemmas. He has not made a formal recommendation to the City Council, which would have to approve the move.

High speed shuttles currently take passengers to the 2,200-passenger Ocean Jewel, which anchors in international waters where gambling is permitted. The operation has been plagued by problems, including customers who have been kept aboard the 450-foot casino ship for hours when bad weather has hampered shuttle access to the ship.

Two of its shuttles also struck the bridge barriers at John's Pass at least four times in the last two months.

Melanie Ave can be reached at 727 892-2273 or melanie@sptimes.com

[Last modified May 13, 2005, 01:00:04]