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November 24, 2009

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Dining yacht says casinos ruined its business

Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2001 | 10:55 a.m.

BILOXI, Miss. -- The owner of a dining yacht says Gulf Coast casinos have run him out of business.

The Starship will leave its dock at the Grand Casino and head for Tampa, Fla., at the end of the month. The last excursion by the $7 million ship was Sunday night.

"Starship was viewed as a distraction and not as an attraction," said Burt Keenan, Starship's chairman of the board.

Keenan said Gulf Coast casinos never supported his business and one casino executive even called the ship a "parasite."

Steven Rosen of Park Place Entertainment Corp., which owns Grand Casino, said Keenan has only himself to blame for the demise of his cruise business. "He had a bad business plan, it failed, and now he wants to blame the world for it," Rosen said.

Steven Richer, executive director of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau, said he was sorry the 180-foot ship leave.

"The latest reports we had was that their business was increasing," Richer said. "I guess they made an assessment that they might have a better opportunity in a larger community."

The ship needed to average 300,000 passengers a month to cover operating expenses, Keenan said, but averaged just 200,000.

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