Federal Maritime Commission to review casino ship complaint

South Carolina Maritime Services Inc., operators of the 387-foot Tropic Sea, wants the commission to force the authority to allow use of the terminal.

The Ports Authority said its policy is to refuse space to ships built mainly for gambling.

Last month, Administrative Law Judge Norman Kline dismissed the complaint at the authority's request. In his ruling, Kline said as a state agency, the Ports Authority is immune from private lawsuits.

The commission has now agreed to review that decision, according to a notice filed last week by commission secretary Bryant VanBrakle.

The full Maritime Commission could uphold Kline's decision or overturn it.

The losing party could then ask for a rehearing before the commission while any commission decision may be appealed to a federal appeals court, said Rachel Dickon-Matney, a spokeswoman in VanBrakle's office.

She said there is no scheduled time for the commission to hear the appeal.

The Tropic Sea has been at anchor in Charleston Harbor since summer. It is owned by Jubilee of the Bahamas, which is controlled by Fred Collins of Greenville, South Carolina's largest operator of video gambling machines.

The ship has been chartered to South Carolina Maritime Services, which said in its original complaint it was losing $18,000 per day because it was denied access to the terminal.

The authority passed a resolution last year saying no company can use the terminal if gambling is the primary purpose of its cruises.

M.J. Shaw, director of operations for South Carolina Maritime Services, has said the ship is not a gambling ship and that it has overnight accommodations for 200.

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