Construction of the big Buquebus ferry terminal at the Key West Bight is again on hold and the start of high-speed service between Key West and Fort Myers has been delayed again— this time "indefinitely"— according to Mark Summers, Buquebus' manager in Florida.
"The Connecticut shipyard building our new boat has gone out of business," he said, "and right now, we have no idea when we can take possession. They won't return our calls."
The boat is a 150-foot catamaran that can carry up to 279 passengers.
Buquebus is the Argentinean company that originally planned to begin service by the end of last year, despite United States maritime laws that prohibit a foreign-owned company from offering freight or passenger service directly between two U.S. ports. The law is designed to protect U.S. maritime interests.
In November, Summers admitted that Buquebus did, indeed, have a potential "regulatory problem" and a Washington maritime lawyer had been called in to advise company officials. In the meantime, the start of service would be delayed until end of summer 1999, Summers said.
The delay has been expensive for Buquebus. Last January, the company's rent at the City-owned Bight, now known as the Historic Seaport, increased from $9,000 per month to $20,000 per month.
And a new boat, built especially for the Key West/Fort Myers run, was sent to South America to work other Buquebus routes. But a new boat was under construction in Connecticut, Summers said.
In May, Key West The Newspaper reported that construction of the Buquebus terminal had stopped. Summers said the delay was to give the company time to "get caught up" financially with the contractor.
Summers said the mother corporation in Argentina, one of the largest ferry companies in the world, was financing the construction of the Key West Terminal out of cash flow— "and the Brazilian banking crisis hit us hard. Interest rates soared to 23 percent," he said.
In an interview in another newspaper in late June, Summers said that construction on the terminal here had resumed and he was still promising a Sept. 15 start date— even before completion of the terminal.
He said the terminal in Fort Myers is already completed.
But Wednesday, Summers told the Key West Bight Management Board that, at this point, he really can't promise a firm start date.
"We just don't know when we can get our boat," he said. "and even when we do get it, it will take 6-8 weeks to get it into service."
Originally, Buquebus officials had hoped to convince the U.S. Congress to waive restrictions to allow them to legally operate directly between two U.S. ports.
To help grease that effort, then-City Commissioner Jimmy Weekley convinced the other commissioners in June 1996 to pass an unusual resolution "strongly supporting the efforts of Buquebus," while ignoring two U.S. ferry companies already running the Key West-Fort Myers route.
This prompted one local attorney to ask, "How much does a resolution supporting a business that wants to come to town cost— and who do you pay?"
The Congressional waiver never happened, however.
How does the Buquebus plan to get around the maritime laws that would restrict an Argentinean company from direct service between two U.S. ports? Summers was candid.
"Buquebus won't own the boat, nor will we operate it," he explained. "A U.S. company will own the boat and lease it to a second U.S. company that will operate the boat. Then, Buquebus-Florida will `time charter' the boat for our Key West-Fort Myers runs.
"Buquebus will operate the terminals and sell the tickets," he said.
Before joining Buquebus, Mark Summers was the manager of the Key West Bight and, reportedly, helped negotiate the City's lease with Buquebus.