Sink or Swim: passengers rescued from gambling boat

The Casino Escapade, which didn’t bring its passengers much luck

US Coast Guards were forced to rescue passengers and crew from aboard a casino boat off the coast of Georgia.

On Tuesday night, the boat hit a rocky bottom and became stuck, during its maiden voyage off the coast of Georgia.

The boat was operated by Tradewinds Casino Games, which describes itself as a place “where winners set sail”.

Coast Guards originally attempted to tow the Escapade, but decided on Wednesday morning to rescue passengers and crew instead, after their lines broke.

Approximately 125 people were on-board, of which 94 were guests, and 31 were crew.

The Escapade became stuck at around midnight near Savannah.

Once rescued, the Coast Guards placed the passengers on small boats and transferred to two cutters, which then took them to a Coast Guard station at nearby Tybee Island.

Approximately 114 people were able to board the small boats. However, there were four who were not able to climb down the ladder, and instead had to be airlifted by helicopter. While seven crew members remained behind on the stuck vessel.

Petty Officer 3rd Class, Anthony Soto, told Sky News that the vessel was “stable” on a rocky bottom.

The Coast Guard said an initial report from the crew suggested a malfunction of the navigation system was to blame.

One passenger on the 174ft-long (53m) boat told WTOC-TV that all the passengers were wearing life jackets.

Randy Hill, a passenger on the ship, said: “We were about an hour into the gambling and all the sudden we just felt a giant jolt.”

One of the problems on the boat was food supply, since they didn’t plan to feed over 100 people.

“We ate crackers and drank water because they ran out of food on the boat, so that was fun,” said Robert Dellaquila.

“Everyone was gambling until like one in the morning, and the boat was supposed to be back by 12:30 a.m., so we knew something was up,” he added.

Another passenger, Mr Hill, said: “Once we ran ashore, they started passing out waters and they ran out of those real quick.

“My biggest complaint and frustration was that they would not give us any information that was concrete that we could go on.”

Florida-based Tradewinds – which offers guests blackjack, roulette and poker – have yet to comment on the situation.