Almost 200 crew members stuck on casino boat as INS sorts out ship’s status

Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2000 | 9:46 a.m.

On Sept. 10, a month after the 420-foot cruise ship described as a boon to Corpus Christi was unveiled, the federal Immigration and Naturalization Service detained the Texas Treasure to investigate the 133 crew members' immigration status.

While officials sorted through the ship's manifest - a listing of all crew members, regardless of nationality - another 55 foreign nationals boarded the ship under a temporary work visa that allows them to depart ships in one U.S. city and board another ship in another city.

The question of the crew nationalities has been resolved, but now officials must determine if the cruise ship is registered in the U.S. or another country.

Until then, the 188 crew members and their 2,000-passenger boat are stuck at Harbor Island, within the city limits of Port Aransas.

"As far as I know, they are cooperating and keep everyone on the ship. It could be at least through the end of the week before anything is settled," Denton Lankford, an INS spokesman in San Antonio, told the Corpus Christi Caller-Times in Wednesday's editions.

Under federal immigration law, foreign ships must make foreign ports of call at least once every 29 days. In addition, crew members on a foreign ship are not required to have permanent visas.

INS officials in San Antonio say since the ship spends most of its time at a U.S. port, it essentially goes nowhere and should be considered a U.S. vessel.

An attorney for Las Vegas-based Viva Gaming and Resorts Inc., which owns the ship, said it should retain its temporary foreign status, since similar gambling ship operations in Florida and New York are not considered U.S. businesses.

"For whatever reason, in Florida and New York, they allowed 'day cruises to nowhere' to be temporary, so Texas has to also," said John D. Lee.

The company also plans a trip to Mexico next month, which would be the required trip to a foreign port, Lee said.