The overseas company interested in bringing a floating casino to Bermuda sees no law prohibiting them from doing so, despite Government's passing of the Prohibition of Gaming Machines Act 2004.

Lawyer Llewellyn Penniston, who is representing Estrellas Management Ltd., said the company was not interested in bringing a ship here for the sole purpose of creating a floating casino.

"They intended to operate from a base in Bermuda and go to sea offering multiple entertainment ? including the option for people who are of the age of consent to play those (gaming) machines, in no way different from any passenger on a cruise ship."

Legislators in the House of Assembly passed the Prohibition of Gaming Machines Amendment Act 2004 in the House on Friday evening. The Act, which bans all machines (any apparatus, computer or electronic device) which may be used for playing a game of chance, will come into effect on July 1, 2004.

During a speech to MPs in the House last Friday, Premier Alex Scott said: "The challenge is laid down" to those who would attempt to bring in "a gambling ship".

"And those who dare," he added, "I bet they're in for a rough ride." Amendments to the Act now state that anyone flouting the law could face fines of up to $250,000 or a five-year jail term.

"I hope someone takes that chance," Mr. Scott added at a later Press conference. "And I know the Finance Minister is hoping someone takes that chance."

Attorney General Larry Mussenden said in the same Press conference that cruise ships are exempted from the law because they come under the definition of "passenger ships": ships which sail into Bermuda from a port outside Bermuda, and vice versa.

He said therefore gaming machines on a ship based in Bermuda, sailing into international waters and then returning to Bermuda, will be outlawed under the new Act.

However Mr. Penniston said otherwise.

A vessel's jurisdiction is determined by its flag state, the country in which it is registered. That means the vessel Estrellas wants to base in Bermuda ? a vessel which is registered in Panama ? is subject to the laws of Panama, not Bermuda. understands such a ship would have to comply with Bermudian regulations set out by Marine and Ports once in Bermuda's territorial waters. In international waters, however, the ship is essentially a piece of Panama and subject to the laws of that country only.

As it is registered in Panama understands it is also defined by that country ? meaning that if Panama has declared it a passenger ship, it is a passenger ship. The extent to which Bermuda as a port state can interfere with that is unclear.

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) said passenger ships are "usually defined as ships carrying more than 12 passengers".

Mr. Penniston said "cruises to nowhere" ? cruises where a vessel sails from and returns to the same port without stopping at another port first ? are common within the cruise ship industry. "There is nothing saying they have to go to a physical dock somewhere.

"They are not registered here, and they would not be operating (gaming machines) within Bermuda territories.

"Therefore, there is no jurisdiction available to courts in Bermuda to exercise control over a vessel outside their limit."