Logos II, the floating bookstore scheduled to arrive in Bermuda tomorrow, is once again making waves, this time from the Chamber of Commerce which yesterday repeated its call for a ban on the ship being allowed to sell books before Christmas.

Chamber of Commerce executive vice president, Diane Gordon yesterday said that while the Chamber supported the mission which Logos II is pursuing, the membership felt it was "extremely unfair" to allow the ship to tie up alongside Front Street and compete with the local retailers during the peak local shopping period of the year.

However, Ms Gordon said the Chamber was not against the ship selling books after the Christmas holiday.

Ms Gordon said: "The precedent which the visit of Logos II is setting creates the potential for others to follow in their footsteps."

This, she said, was unacceptable if all parties are subject to the same legislation and tax burden which local businesses incur and which create a significant overhead for Bermuda retailers.

Ms Gordon added that Bermudians in general were extremely generous and the community will shop on board the ship thinking they are assisting a charity without understanding that they are further damaging the local retail community.

"Charity starts at home and the Chamber is encouraging the community to Buy Bermuda," she said.