Steven Brown this month fulfilled his lifetime's ambition of owning his own charter boat.

And the Bermudian mariner says his decision to plough such a huge investment into the vessel is a vote of confidence in the Island's struggling tourist industry.

His boat, the 78-foot Destiny, will become the third largest charter vessel in Bermuda and Mr. Brown is convinced he can offer something unique to the Island.

The custom-built boat, which Mr. Brown designed, has four glass bottomed viewing screens which can be covered by floor panels, and can hold up to 200 people at a time.

He believes it is the only boat in Bermuda designed to do a variety of jobs from charter trips, parties, and glass bottom viewing at day or night, to functions such as weddings.

Mr. Brown, who formerly worked on the Longtail party boat, plans to run tours which include educational visits to Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute followed by a cruise around the reefs, and others which stop for lunch at the Waterlot Inn.

Destiny, which took nine months to be built in Panama City, Florida, arrived on the Island last Wednesday after sailing via the Bahamas. It is moored on Front Street.

"Everything goes in a cycle like the economy. I believe Bermuda's tourism industry will reinvent itself and I want to be part of that for sure because I have confidence in it," he told The Royal Gazette yesterday.

"Because of my belief, I am taking a risk by making a huge investment because I want to be there, not just during the good times, but to be part of the solution.

"A lot of the products here are 15 to 20 years - or more - old and we wanted to get something that is completely different to everything else.

"I believe in Bermuda and I believe the only way we can survive is if we all stick together. If we keep bailing out, we won't be there in the long run. We need to reinvent Bermuda and reinvent ourselves.

"I started work at 19 as a pilot and I've basically been planning this all my life, but for the last six or seven years it's been on the drawing board."

Destiny was supposed to arrive in Bermuda last summer but was held up until this year.

Mr. Brown said he marketed the boat around hotels, travel agents and shipping agents last year and it was booked out for most of last summer, proving the demand is there.

He said he had been delighted by the cooperation he had received from hotels, shipping agents and organisations such as BUEI.

Destiny will be available for hire in two weeks' time.

"I've shown my faith in the industry and I hope other partners in the industry will show faith in me and my investment because it is a huge investment," said Mr. Brown.

Meanwhile, another charter boat operator told The Royal Gazette yesterday he planned to quit the business and sell his boat after this summer because the demand is not there.

The operator, who asked not to be named but who runs a 30-foot boat dealing with the high end of the charter market, said business had been going downhill since 1998.

And he lambasted Tourism Minister David Allen for blaming the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States for contributing to the slump in the Island's visitor numbers, which last year fell by 16 percent - to 458,814 - the lowest for more than 20 years.

"Unless something really drastic happens, and the signs are that this year will be even worse than last, I'm gone," he said yesterday.

"I've been in the business for 14 years, and despite general slumps in tourism, I've seen modest increases every year until 1998.

"Since 1998 it's gone down the toilet to the point where it's not worth it. I'll do this season, but that's because the pre-season overheads have been paid for.

"And don't blame all this on September 11. That's a lovely excuse, but it was bad before that."