A Macau court has lifted its injunction suspending Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson's new ferry service to the southern Chinese gambling enclave of Macau, officials said Friday.
Las Vegas Sands Corp. said it welcomed Thursday's ruling and was preparing to resume its service.
Cotai Waterjets had been in operation just 11 days -- carrying passengers from Hong Kong to a port near Adelson's $2.4. billion Venetian casino resort -- when Macau's Intermediate Court issued the injunction on Dec. 11.
It followed an appeal by rival operator Hong Kong North West Express against the Macau government's decision to award the ferry license to Adelson's Las Vegas Sands without an open tender.
The court lifted the injunction because it did not find enough evidence in the appeal to warrant the ferry's continued suspension, a government official said, requesting anonymity in line with policy.
"As we expected the court acted in an expeditious and prudent manner to consider the merits of the claim, and decided that the injunction should be removed," Stephen Weaver, president of Las Vegas Sands' Asia division said in a statement late Thursday.
The appeal by Hong Kong North West Express against the licensing decision was still before the court, lawyer Nuno Simoes told The Associated Press.
The new Cotai ferry service was launched Nov. 30 as part of Adelson's plan to improve transport links between Hong Kong and Cotai, a strip of reclaimed land on which he built the massive Venetian Macao casino. Competitor Melco PBL is building its City of Dreams resort on the same strip.
Macau's current ferry terminal, where North West Express ferries dock, is located on its mainland peninsula linked to China. The new CotaiJet service is based at a temporary terminal located closer to the reclaimed Cotai strip.
North West Express has applied several times to run a ferry to Cotai and been turned down.
Cotai Waterjets, also called CotaiJets, offered 20 daily trips on high-speed catamaran vessels to and from Macau, according to its Web site.
Morgan Stanley said the resumed service would benefit not only Las Vegas Sands, but all of Macau, as it would bring more people to the territory, the only place in China where casino gambling is legal.
"The most significant impact will most likely be seen during special events and weekends when infrastructure is especially capacity constrained and people simply can't get to Macau from Hong Kong," it said in a research note following the lifting of the injunction.
In the past, visitors to Macau were virtually guaranteed a seat on one of the high-speed catamarans even if they showed up at the Hong Kong terminal just minutes before departure. That's changed with the boom in Macau's popularity and the building of luxury casinos and shopping centers. Now, it's almost imperative to book tickets in advance, especially for weekend and holiday travel. |
