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Europa Cruises Corp. Scuttling Ship Business In Favor Of New Casino On Gulf Coast9 August 2000JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI – Aug. 9, 2000 – As reported by The Associated Press: "Europa Cruises Corp. is scuttling its cruise ship operations in hopes of luring more lucre with a new casino development. "The Madeira Beach, Fla.-based company said it will sell its remaining cruise ships through its EuropaSky Corp. and Europa Cruises of Florida 1 Inc. subsidiaries and concentrate instead on developing a casino in Mississippi. "The company said it will sell its M/V Europa Sky and M/V Europa Star and lease its Madeira Beach port to Stardance Casino Inc. of South Carolina for $7.3 million. Europa previously sold two other ships to the same company. The deal is expected to be complete by May 1. "… [Europa chairwoman, president and CEO Deborah] Vitale said Europa will develop a 404-acre tract of property on the Bay of St. Louis through its wholly owned Casino World Inc. subsidiary. The land is located near Interstate 10. "…But the company may face problems in developing a bankable customer base and marketing a casino in an area already inundated by casino properties. "…Europa comes to the table with little experience in land-based casinos, but Vitale said its experience with gambling cruise ships can be parlayed into getting customers to its proposed casino. "…Vitale said the company is emerging from the sale of its gambling boats almost debt-free and wants to avoid the uncertainty of operating the gambling boats in Florida. "…Investors seemed to agree. In trading on the Nasdaq OTC Bulletin Board, investors bidded up shares of Europa 3 cents to close Tuesday at 51 cents per share, an increase of 6.25 percent. " |