A woman died this weekend after a fire broke out on a boat ferrying gamblers to a casino ship moored off the coast of Florida.
On Sunday, a shuttle boat taking gamblers to the floating Tropical Breeze Casino caught fire, forcing its 36 passengers and 14 crew members to jump overboard to escape the flames. At least 15 passengers were taken to Tampa-area hospitals for treatment, and an unidentified 42-year-old female passenger succumbed to her injuries on Sunday night.
The fire broke out shortly after the shuttle vessel left the Florida coast, reportedly after suffering engine trouble. Passengers and onlookers reported the fire spreading rapidly, and video of the burning vessel provides a vivid illustration of the inferno. (See bottom of page.) The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Tropical Breeze spokesperson Beth Fifer said Monday that there had been no indications of previous trouble with the shuttle craft, and that the company was “deeply saddened” by the death of one of its customers.
The 15 passengers taken to hospital were reportedly treated for non-life-threatening injuries, including smoke inhalation. A hospital spokesperson said the deceased passenger originally went home following the incident, then arrived at hospital hours later complaining of illness but died within an hour of her arrival.
The temperature was in the mid-40s to low-50s (Fahrenheit) at the time, with the water obviously significantly colder, leading to concerns that some passengers could suffer from hypothermia.
Florida currently permits only a small number of tribal-run brick-and-mortar casinos plus a small number of card rooms and slots-only venues at racetracks, and thus Tropical Breeze operates in international waters in the Gulf of Mexico. Over the years, a number of floating casinos have offered similar ‘cruise to nowhere’ services to fill Florida’s void, including a division of Malaysian casino giant Genting.
Similar shipboard operations have set up shop in other casino-antagonistic US states, including Texas, where the Jacks or Better cruise casino has occasionally endured weather-related incidents, fortunately without any fatalities.
Casino cruise ships are also popular in many Asian jurisdictions, where legal casino gambling remains a rarity. Even North Korea was soliciting foreign investors for its own casino cruise liner last year.
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