The 600-passenger Island Breeze Casino cruise ship, which operated out of Palm Beach, Florida, recently filed for bankruptcy at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in West Palm Beach. Island Breeze Chief Executive Bradley Prader said daily excursions were stopped and nearly all of the 250 employees were laid off. The Island Breeze had charged for a ticket and for its evening buffet.
Prader said two shutdowns this year led to the Island Breeze’s situation. In May, the 160-foot ship’s starboard engine “sustained a catastrophic failure” leading to a $1 million repair bill. Soon after that, the ship had to go into dry-dock for a mandatory U.S. Coast Guard inspection.
In court papers, Prader noted the casino ship had fallen behind on payments to a Miami slot machine leasing company, and have not been able to renegotiate an agreement. Also, Prader noted, the owners owe about $5.2 million to the seller of the vessel; they purchased the ship in May 2013 for $5.8 million and promised to make monthly payments of at least $15,000 until August 2018. Furthermore, the Island Breeze had promised the Port of Palm Beach that it would carry 125,000 passengers a year or pay $5 per person below that headcount.
Bankruptcy attorney Lawrence McMichael noted Island Breeze’s bankruptcy could help it restart operations next month, taking advantage of Florida’s busy tourist season. He said the ship could pick up business from competitor, the Bahamas Celebration cruise, which collided with an unknown object at sea on Halloween, causing hundreds of passengers in costume to evacuate.
The Island Breeze is not the only Port of Palm Beach casino operation that has struggled recently. The Big Easy briefly operated from the port but left in 2006. After years of financial struggles, the Palm Beach Princess stopped sailing in 2010. Its replacement, the Black Diamond, operated only a few months from late 2012 to early 2013.
Another Florida casino vessel is changing ports. After offering weekday cruises from Port Everglades for just one month, the Bimini SuperFast casino ship, owned by Genting Malaysia Berhad, announced it now will run all of its cruises from Port Miami. According to Port Everglades records, the 1,500-passenger ship averaged 536 passengers in its first week but just 160 for the week of October 28-30.
