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SCMP Reporter

MACAU casino mogul Mr Stanley Ho is pressuring the Hongkong Government to stop a new gambling ship from operating out of the territory, fearing he will lose customers if it is allowed to start sailing.

  A spokesman for Mr Ho said yesterday the casino business appeared to be hotting up, with representatives of the Queen of Jin Jiang already openly soliciting customers in his casinos.

  The Liberian-owned and registered Queen of Jin Jiang is about to start running casino sailings nightly from Hongkong.

  The luxury ship will join the New Orient Princess on the gambling runs, both sailing into international waters to avoid government anti-casino laws.

  Mr Ho's own bid to run a ship out of Hongkong was aborted last year.

  ''We do not want them to be allowed to affect our business,'' the spokesman said. ''The Hongkong Government must introduce measures to ensure they can't operate instead of just offering sentiment.

  ''We will be raising our concerns to the Macau Government to ask them to discuss the matter with the Hongkong Government to protect our franchise, that is what we feel is the best way to do things.''   Mr Ho's company, Sociedade De Turismo E Diversoe De Macau (STDM), holds the monopoly on gambling in the enclave.

  The Queen of Jin Jiang was sold by the Chinese-owned Shanghai Jinjiang Shipping Corporation two months ago for US$6.6 million (HK$51.07 million) to Golden Chance, a Liberian-registered firm, shipping industry sources said.

  Golden Chance is understood to have chartered the ship to an unknown third party.

  Assistant Director of Marine, Mr John Tse Yan-chi, said the vessel would be inspected as soon as possible after the passing of the Merchant Shipping (Safety) Amendment Bill.

  Legislators are expected to pass the bill next week.

  The proposal, targeted at gambling ships, gives local marine officers powers to conduct detailed inspections on board foreign flagged ships to ensure they comply with all safety provisions of Hongkong law.

 The Marine Department has said it can only concern itself with safety and any move to outlaw gambling on the ships is the responsibility of other departments.

 Meanwhile, STDM's casinos generated most of the record 3.6 billion patacas in gambling taxation for the Macau Government last year, provisional official figures show.

  STDM's eight casinos provided 3.4 billion patacas with the additional 200 million comprising taxes on the company's greyhound and horse racing and franchised lotteries.

  STDM pays around 30 per cent of its total gross casino income as franchise taxation to the Macau Government - making up 78 per cent of the total direct tax takings last year.



Ho attempts to stop new gambling ship operating