Page 34: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (January 1993)

Exhibit 1

Riverboat Gaming Legislation At A Glance

STATE

BET

LIMITS

LOSS

LIMITS # OF

LICENSES COMMENTS

ILLINOIS None None 10 As many as 2 boats per license; max. 1200 gaming positions.

IOWA $5 maximum $200 per cruise 10 Self-propelled riverboats; max. 30 % of boat for gaming.

LOUISIANA None None 15 Paddlewheel-driven boats only; max. 60 % devoted to gaming.

MISSISSIPPI None None No limit as yet. Dockside gaming only; gambling 24 hours per day, 7 days a week.

MISSOURI None $500 per cruise Not determined as yet. Self-propelled & permanently moored boats; min. 500 pass, capacity.

Casino Magic plans to add two addi- tional 295-foot barges to the exist- ing vessel to increase its usable gam- ing area to over 84,000 square feet.

SMI, which performed the work on the Mardi Gras Casino, has been contracted to procure two vessels for refit.

According to Len James

Giacone of Casino Magic, contrac- tors were expected to complete the second floor of the Mardi Gras Ca- sino in time for a December 26 open- ing. "We've had a tremendous impact on the Mississippi economy," said

Mr. Giacone. "We're not only bring- ing people into this area, but most of our employees live within the state."

Employment is expected to reach 1,400 people upon completion of the second floor of the casino.

Expansion plans are also in the works for Grand Casino, Inc., opera- tors of the Grand Casino Gulfport, who are expected to set up a similar gaming complex in Biloxi. The cur- rent Grand Casino Gulfport, com- posed of four 295- by 54-foot barges, has 195,000 square feet of gaming space.

Business is brisk at the Biloxi

Belle, according to Tippy O'Bryan, vice president of public relations for the Mississippi Riverboat Amuse- ment Corp., owners of the vessel. "We opened in the late summer, and business is still fantastic," said

Mr. O'Bryan. "Business is well above our projected percentages and we're looking forward to the spring- time, when a number of snowbirds and tourists should flock to this area."

Mr. O'Bryan said that prelimi- nary discussions are already under- way for expansion, although noth- ing to date has been finalized.

The one-time Iowa riverboat ca- sinos, the former Emerald Lady and

Diamond Lady, in combination with a pavilion barge, have ventured downstream to more profitable grounds to be reborn as the floating casino Isle of Capri in Biloxi. "We are excited to be involved in the development of gaming in Mis- sissippi as well as with the revital- ization of the Mississippi Gulf

Coast," said Edward S. Ellers, president of the President Casino at

Broadwater Beach Resort in Biloxi. "I'm confident that the emergence of casino gaming will have a positive impact on the economy in the entire region," he added.

A replica of a turn-of-the-century sidewheeler, the 292-foot President

Casino Mississippi is permanently moored at the Broadwater Marina.

She features 17,000-square feet of casino space, with 480 slot and video poker machines and 42 table games.

The newest gaming development to open is the 500-foot pastel pink

Casino Splash, operated by Tunica

Casino. Formerly a floating enter- tainment center in Louisville, the

Casino Splash was refurbished by

Bender Shipbuilding & Repair, in

Mobile.

She opened at Tunica in October.

Meanwhile, conversion work is underway on the Miss New York, a former Staten Island ferry. The vessel will be utilized in dockside gaming at Port Gibson, Miss.

Although Mississippi is a wide- open market—with no restrictions on the number of licenses that will be issued (and thereby no restric- tion on the number of vessels)—it may prove not as attractive to some shipbuilders as some other states, since many of the riverboat casinos will wind up being newly refit non- self-propelled barges. Most or all of this refit work is performed by pri- vate contractors, rather than ship- builders.

Illinois Operator's Emergence

Hurts Iowa Operators

High stakes riverboat gaming operations in Illinois have cut into the profits of Iowa casino boat op- erators. This has led to the shifting of some Iowa vessels by major op- erators.

Steamboat Development, for ex- ample, moved its two flagships, the

Diamond Lady and the Emerald

Lady, to the more profitable waters of Mississippi, where they now re- side as part of the dockside casino

Isle of Capri. Operators in Missis- sippi not only benefit from reduced crewing and fuel costs, but from 24- hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week gam- ing operations.

The passage of Missouri riverboat gaming has also had an impact on the Iowa scene. It clears the way for the sale of the 387-foot Dubuque

Casino Belle to St. Charles, Mo., investors.

The vessel, formerly owned by

Roberts River Rides, is scheduled to leave for Missouri after March 31, 1993. Originally built at a cost of $12 million by Patti Shipyards, Inc., of Pensacola, Fla., the Dubuque

Casino Belle was sold to St. Charles

Riverfront Station, a subsidiary of

Palace Station, Inc., of Las Vegas, for a reported $17 million.

According to Ken Bonnet, assis- tant to the president of Roberts

River Rides, one of the main factors in the decision to sell the Dubuque

Casino Belle was the health of owner

Robert Kehl.

In addition, the current state of gaming was also a factor in the sale. "I hope that the gaming legislation in other states inspires Iowa to change," said Mr. Bonnet. "The current situation leaves Iowa op- erators at a distinct disadvantage.

The $5 bet limitation in particular is a problem. A player needs the op- portunity to increase his bet in order to increase his winnings more quickly.

Although I wouldn't necessarily like to see unlimited losses, I be- lieve the Missouri law is more ide- ally suited, with no restrictions on wagering and losses limited to $500."

Mr. Bonnet said that the com- pany plans to continue operating the 500-passenger casino boat Mis- sissippi Belle II out of Clinton, Iowa.

The other Iowa boats currently operating include the five-deck, 3,000-passenger President Casino

Belle homeported in Davenport,

Iowa, and the former DeWitt Clinton, newly renovated by Sioux City

Riverboat, Inc.

Now called the Sioux City Soo, the 150-foot riverboat, which oper- ated for years out of the South Street

Seaport in lower Manhattan, is based in Sioux City.

Riverboat Casinos In Operation (as of December 1, 1992)

VESSEL CAPACITY OPERATOR HOMEPORT

Alton Belle Casino 600 Alton Riverboat Gambling Alton, IL

Oasino Rock Island 1000 Jumer Hotels Ltd. Rock Island, IL

Empress Riverboat Casino 1200 Des Plaines River Entertainment Corp. Joliet, IL

Par-A-Dice 1068 Greater Peoria Riverboat Corp. Peoria, IL

Silver Eagle 1000 Eagle Ridge Resort Galena, IL

Dubuque Casino Belle 2200 Roberts River Rides Dubuque, IA

Mississippi Belle II 500 Roberts River Rides Clinton, IA

Sioux City Soo 500 Sioux City Riverboat Corp. Sioux City, IA

President Riverboat Casino 3000 Gatewy Riverboat Cruises Davenport, IA

President Casino Mississippi 1500 Broadwater Beach Hotel & Casino Biloxi, MS

Biloxi Belle 1900 Miss. Riverboat Amusement Corp. Biloxi, MS

Casino Magic 1500 Mardi Gras Casino Bay St. Louis, MS

Casino Splash 1500 Tunica Casino Tunica, MS

Isle of Capri 2400 Riverboat Corp. of Miss. Biloxi, MS

Exhibit 2

Austal Ships Delivers

Eighth Catamaran

In Two Years

Austal Ships of Australia is now one of the leading builders of 40- meter, high-performance catama- rans.

It recently completed its eighth catamaran for Asian owners in less than two years with the delivery of the 40-meter, 338-passenger ferry "Nan Gui."

The West Australian aluminum- ferry builder's $70 million sales fig- ures represented almost half of the $160 million export earnings for the lightweight sector of the State's shipbuilding industry in 1992.

Ten catamarans were ordered by

Yuet Hing Marine Supplies of Hong

Kong, seven of which had been com- pleted and shipped by the end of 1992.

Two 354-passenger ferries are currently under construction for the

Ping Gang Transportation Corpora- tion and the Zhu Hai Jiuzhou Port

The Nan Gui on final sea trials off Fremantle.

Administration Group and are scheduled for delivery in March.

To meet its growing demand,

Austal is spending $5 million on a waterfront shipyard to allow con- struction of 76-meter "Auto Express" superferries capable of carrying more than 400 passengers, 72 cars and 10 buses or trucks at speeds up to 40 knots.

Austal will also be the production base for a range of 38-meter, air- cushion catamarans and giant fer- ries up to 120 meters in length.

For complete information on

Austal Ships' facilities,

Circle 36 on Reader Service Card

Atlantic Marine To Build Tri-

Deck Gaming Vessel

Atlantic Marine, Inc., of Jackson- ville, Fla., signed a contract with

Alton River Boat Gambling Part- nership, of Alton, 111., to build a triple deck gaming vessel with ca- pacity for 1,200 passengers and 100 crew.

The 222- by 66-foot vessel is sched- uled for a May 1993 delivery.

Designed by Rodney E. Lay &

Associates, of Jacksonville, Fla., the vessel is powered by two Caterpillar 3412TA marine engines with Twin

Disc reduction gears.

Caterpillar also supplied two 3508,715-kW generator sets for elec- 36 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News