Docked casino cruise ship to resume sailing

Coast Guard shut down ship after finding issues with safety equipment, lifeboats

MAYPORT, Fla. – The Victory II Casino Cruise ship will likely be given the all clear to resume sailing out of Mayport on Friday after the ship was docked for safety violations last week by the Coast Guard.

The ship's certificate of inspection was revoked last week because of issues with fire safety equipment and lifesaving equipment. The Coast Guard completed its annual inspection of the ship Thursday and found no issues with those items but did find a few other problems.

Coast Guard officials said that during a six-hour inspection Thursday they found issues with the storage of lifesaving equipment and with fire-detection equipment. The Coast Guard said those problems will likely be fixed Thursday afternoon and personnel will do another inspection Friday morning to make sure they are fixed.

"They put the vessel at a risk (level) where we felt more comfortable that (the issues) needed to be rectified before they could carry personnel on board," Lt. Cmdr. Marc Montemerlo said.

For now, the ship has been issued a temporary certificate of inspection.

Lester Bullock, CEO of Victory Casino Cruises, said he plans to resume sailing Friday at 7 p.m. He said the ship will resume its twice-a-day schedule on Saturday.

The ship initially failed inspection last Thursday after the Coast Guard received an anonymous tip and went on board while the ship was underway on its afternoon cruise.

Inspectors found some inoperable fire dampers on board, as well as a lifeboat that wouldn't deploy quickly enough. Because of that, the Coast Guard revoked the certificate of inspection, shutting down the ship.

They reinspected the ship Saturday, but it again failed. The Coast Guard is still investigating what caused the initial violations.

Bullock said that the original issues that led to the shut down involved two out of 40 fire dampers on board that wouldn't close all the way. Those are now fixed.

He said that a former maintenance employee had told them those dampers were fixed before he left, but they weren't. He said he welcomes Coast Guard inspections as often as they'd like.

"Inspect away," Bullock said. "This is one of those situations where we want everyone to understand that these vessels are safe and we spend the money that we spend to make sure they are safe."

Bullock said that crews will check items like the dampers more frequently to make sure everything is working properly.

"We spend hundreds of thousands of dollars," Bullock said. "I do not want to jeopardize my crew, my staff, or any customer whatsoever. I will spend whatever it takes to make sure this vessel is safe and sound."

Coast Guard officials said the issues found Thursday are common in boats as old as the Victory II. They said a third issue found was minor and will need to be fixed within 30 days.

Customers who came out to the cruise terminal Thursday, hoping to play some games, said it was frustrating that the ship was shut down, but some said they would be back.

Bullock said he is anxious to get the boat, the staff and the customers back on the water.

Cruise officials said everyone who missed out because of the shut down on a sailing that they had already fully paid for will have their money refunded and will receive a free cruise, a $10 voucher for games and a $15 food voucher.