Trump planning casino yacht in Atlantic City

John Curran

Friday, June 14, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Not to be outdone by his Las Vegas competitors, Donald Trump said he will spend $75 million to build a giant yacht, equip it with a casino and dock it at Trump Castle Casino Resort here.

The five-story, 430-foot yacht, which he said would be the world's biggest, would have 35,000 square feet of casino space on three levels and would be moored permanently at the Sen. Frank S. Farley State Marina, located next door to Trump Castle.

"It will be the talk of the world," he said.

In addition, Trump said, he will spend $150 million to build a 1,500-room hotel tower at the property, which will be renamed Trump Marina Hotel & Casino and will be folded into his public company.

The announcement, which came at a conference attended by some of gaming's most influential operators, gave Trump a chance to reclaim a spotlight he has reluctantly relinquished.

Trump, who last month opened a fourth casino here, has seen his recent successes overshadowed by the activities of arch rival Steve Wynn and other Las Vegas casino moguls planning to expand into New Jersey.

On Thursday, it was Trump's turn.

He said he decided on a yacht because of the popularity of the Trump Princess, a 283-footer he sold in 1992 when his real estate empire fell on hard times.

Whenever the yacht docked in Atlantic City, it drew hundreds of onlookers who would then find their way into the Trump Castle casino, he said. The casino's business increased dramatically on those days, he said.

"It was like the Pied Piper. Hundreds and hundreds of boats would follow it into the harbor," he said.

And, of course, the new one will have to be big. According to Trump, the world's biggest is the Britannia, a 412-foot vessel owned by the Queen of England.

"I always wanted to build a 430-foot yacht. I always wanted to have one larger than the queen," he told the East Coast Gaming Conference, a two-day parley sponsored by Wall Street investment banking house Oppenheimer & Co.

A monorail or enclosed pedestrian walkway would be built linking the vessel with the casino, so gamblers would not have to walk outside, he said.

The unexpected announcement caught even regulators by surprise. It is the first time a floating casino has been proposed in the 18 years since gaming began here.

"I'm sure it will pose a number of interesting regulatory issues. We'll have to explore how that would fit in with the regulatory scheme," said Daniel Heneghan, a spokesman for the state Casino Control Commission.