SUPER YACHT BOOM
THE Ville Resort and Casino owner Chris Morris has doubled down on his investment in Townsville.
Mr Morris, the tourism tycoon behind The Ville, Orpheus Island and super yacht Flying Fish, is bringing a second super yacht to Townsville, one never seen before in Australia.
He also announced plans to build a super yacht marina in front of the casino to draw high-flying patrons to the Townsville resort.
A resort that is set to begin an $80m expansion in August.
Mr Morris announced the move yesterday after the Townsville Fire’s season launch.
The Ville has teamed up with the professional basketball side to make the Townsville Entertainment and Conference Centre the Fire’s new home.
After the launch, Mr Morris revealed the investment of more than $30m bring a 40m Benetti Oasis to Townsville.
The vessel, to be named Northern Escape, will be his second super yacht and will complement Flying Fish, which is currently anchored off Orpheus Island adding capacity to the booked-out luxury resort.
“This is the best boat in the world, it’s the biggest boat you can have on
the Great Barrier Reef, without having to use shipping channels,” Mr Morris said.
“It will be up for charter and part of the offer here at the casino.”
The company is still working through the details and approvals for the marina with authorities but are hopeful construction should be ready to start on the completion of the new hotel.
The concept plan includes three arms and enough room for six super yachts to dock at a time at a cost of about $20m to $30m.
Mr Morris said the super yachts were already cruising past Townsville.
“They are here, there are about 81 going up the coast now and they want somewhere to stop after three to four days.
“They want somewhere to land and there is nothing like stopping at a casino.”
attempts to open the till and armed himself with a club and pressed the duress alarm before the boy again threatened him with a knife and said, “Do you want to get killed?”. The boy then got access to the till and took off with between $400 to $500 of cash.
The court heard the boy later turned himself in to police and was charged.
The boy’s barrister, Dane Marley, said the teen had suffered a “difficult upbringing” and often witnessed and experienced violence. Mr Marley said alcohol was a significant factor that led to the boy’s offending.
In sentencing, Judge Coker said it was “one of the most serious offences that had come before this court”.
He said such violent behaviour had “tragically become normalised” in the teen’s life. “You might seriously kill or injure someone,” he said.
The teen was sentenced to six months detention which was immediately suspended. No conviction was recorded.