Lynn gambling ship now in bankruptcy
Faces city lien, pier owner suits
Twice a day for much of the past five years, the SS Horizon's Edge boarded hundreds of people, shoved off from its pier in Lynn Harbor, and motored 3 miles into the Atlantic, where passengers were legally outside Massachusetts laws prohibiting gambling.
In October, the 186-foot vessel - with its rows of slot machines and felt tabletops featuring blackjack, three card poker, roulette, craps, and other games of chance - left the pier and never returned, despite a signed lease for its space at the dock, a $200,000 lawsuit for damages to the dock, and a lien on the ship. This week, after the pier's owner filed an additional lawsuit against Horizon's Edge Excursions for allegedly failing to pay $15,000 in rent, the ship's company filed for bankruptcy.
"They just left in the middle of the night," said James Cowdell, executive director of the Economic Development and Industrial Corporation, an independent authority in Lynn that owns the pier where the ship docked. "There was only a note on their door, which basically said Horizon's Edge had upped and left. There was no forwarding information, nothing."
The owners of Horizon's Edge, which began cruises from Lynn in 2003, could not be reached.
Jeffrey Kitaeff, a North Andover lawyer representing Horizon's Edge, said the company's assets are worth less than $50,000 and its liabilities are between $500,000 and $1 million.
He said he did not know where the boat was and declined to comment on the lawsuits.
The company, which charged up to $37 a person for some cruises, featured 225 slot machines, 11 game tables, a buffet, and live entertainment.
Cowdell said he doesn't know why the company left.
"When they were meeting with us, they gave us information that showed they were very profitable," he said.
"I never looked at their books, but I know they were always busy and that they had a large customer base."
Cowdell said the city has a $65,644.47 lien on the ship. He added that Horizon's Edge also owes the Lynn Water and Sewer Commission more than $2,300 for six months of service.
He said the company previously had financial problems and blamed them on their operations in Florida.
He said his office had set up a payment plan that allowed Horizon's Edge to repay the Economic Development and Industrial Corporation over time. Rent was $5,000 a month.
"The thing that really aggravates me is that we bent over backwards to them when they were late on payments," he said. "For them to just shut off the valve without any communication is no way to do business. I find it hard to believe that they have no money left."
