Bets are off for stranded HK casino ship and forlorn crew

HONG KONG: Captain Valerie Lyzhyn and his 45 crew are stranded in Hong Kong, big losers in a gambling slump triggered by a Chinese crackdown on corruption that has scared off the highrollers.

Lyzhyn, 62, a Russian-born Ukrainian and veteran seaman, and his colleagues, refuse to leave their 140 metre casino cruiser the New Imperial Star until they get the six months of pay they say they are owed.

HongKong’sMarineDepartment has impounded the ship due to what it called “serious deficiencies” found during an inspection.

Rations are running low, the ship’s owners can’t be reached and the cobalt blue felt covering the 16 baccarat tables is gathering dust.

“There’s one egg per crew member per day,” Lyzhyn told Reuters onboard the ship, which is moored a short barge ride away from a bustling port in eastern Hong Kong.

Breakfast was particularly miserable: “No sausages, no bacon, no milk, nothing.”

Hong Kong’s casino cruises flourished alongside the world’s biggest gambling hub of Macau, across the mouth of the Pearl River from Hong Kong, until 2014.

ItwasthenthatChinesePresident Xi Jinping launched a widereaching anti-graft campaign, snaring officials and powerful businessmen who had used Macau as a cash playground.

The gamblers have been steering clear.

“Really, business has gone down,” Lyzhyn said, dressed in a tan uniform with gold and black lapels.

“One year ago we had 200 passengers, before we stopped operating we had only 50.”

Lyzhyn said the ship was detained in October last year after the owners failed to pay maintenance fees and as a result, it did not pass its inspections.

The crew is waiting to be paid salaries totaling US$400,000, he said.

He said he did not know who the ship’s owners were but it was managed by a company called Skywill Management Limited.

Phone numbers for Skywill did not work while Sea Hawk Asia, the captain’s previous manager, said it was not able to comment on the situation. — Reuters