SeaEscape May Lose Gambling Cruise Ship After Court Order

Gambling ships used to be the trendy night out in South Florida. People would board the ships, sail out into international waters, and gamble and dance the night away.

That was before the Hard Rock took land based casino gambling to another level in Florida. It also was a time before casinos were in every pari-mutuel in Broward County.

Since the land based casinos have grown, the gambling ship industry has almost completely disappeared. SeaEscape, which ran cruises out of Port Everglades for twenty one years, but eventually had to shut down their trips because they could not compete.

Employees of SeaEscape have claimed that they are owed back money for jobs they have performed. Late this past week, a judge ruled in favor of the disgruntled employees. The judge issued a warrant to have a U.S. Marshall seize control of the ship.

The only way that SeaEscape will gain control back of its ship is to pay the bond that the judge will set. "If they don't post a bond that removes the court's jurisdiction, then I'll be asking that the vessel be turned into a bag of cash through the auction process," said Ross Toyne, a Miami Attorney.

He represents twelve employees who have been slighted by SeaEscape. The company will eventually have to take care of the employees because they are searching for a new location for the ship to sail from.

August 23, 2008
Posted By Terry Goodwin
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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