Malaysian company Podiumspot Capital Group is gearing up to start working on what it claims will be the world’s largest casino cruise ship, the Crusino.
The ship, which will measure 295 meters in length and 36 meters in width, will be launched in Malaysia on April 3 and is expected to take three years to complete, according to The Sun Daily report. Once completed, Crusino will have 1,330 staterooms and will be able to carry up to 3,200 passengers and 900 crew members.
Crusino will reportedly have “two special decks” dedicated to gambling, featuring “the largest casino on sea.” The staterooms will also be equipped with two plasma television sets, which can be used for regular entertainment purposes as well as to allow occupants to participate in live casino games from their rooms.
Podiumspot CEO T. Leonard estimates the casino cruise ship’s construction cost to be about RM2.5 billion (USD560 million). The ship is planned to be built at shipyards in China or Vietnam, according to the report.
If all goes to plan, Crusino will embark on its maiden voyage in April 2020.
Delhi chief minister accuses Goa casinos of bilking $600M in tax revenues
Arvind Kejriwal, chief minister of Delhi, has another bone to pick with Goa casinos.
The politician is accusing Goa casinos of cheating the state government of Rs 4,000 crore (USD596 million) in annual tax revenues. The state has five offshore casinos floating off the Mandovi River and nine brick and mortar casinos housed in resorts in Goa’s coastal areas.
“The actual tax collection from the casino industry in Goa should be Rs 4,000 crore. How much does the Goa government get in from the casinos? Rs 200 crore. If government ministers and officers are cheating the government treasury of Rs 4,000 crore, can you imagine how much money they are pocketing,” Kejriwal said, according to India.com.
The politician has been on a verbal tirade against casinos in Goa since last year, when he claimed that “everyone” in the state “wants to be rid of casinos.”
Gambling is illegal in India except for lotteries and some horse racing. The only legal casinos exist in Goa, Sikkim and Daman and Diu.
