Government's fumbling efforts to land a cruise ship for St. George's.

Despite the formal signing of a draft contract with Boston-Bermuda Cruising in June, it wasn't until November that the deal was finally landed -- and then with a completely different company.

In the months between, controversy grew as Boston-Bermuda's dubious handling of the issue gave rise to local concern.

At the June signing, Boston-Bermuda spokesman Mr. Arnold Mende said his company would buy the Sally Albotross , a converted Baltic ferry.

But journalists at the Ordnance Island signing were left scrambling for more information about the vessel when Mr. Mende and his group quickly departed.

They left behind photostats showing only a picture of the ship and a few lines listing her dimensions.

In August, Boston-Bermuda's credibility was tarnished when it unilaterally announced plans to increase the size of the ship by 75 feet and to add enough cabins for another 200 passengers.

The announcement left Government with egg on its face as it compromised the official plan to keep the St. George's ship capacity to no more than 850.

The final blow came in September when ship owner Effjohn of Sweden balked, saying Boston-Bermuda didn't have enough money.

That announcement didn't come from any official source. Rather, it was a statement given to a Royal Gazette reporter who called the company president in Stockholm.

At that point, Government's plan for a fifth ship was in tatters. And East End residents knew it.

It all caught up to Government at election time. Despite last-minute assurances from Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan that a ship would be in place by spring 1994, St. Georgians had had enough.

They re-elected PLP MP Miss Jennifer Smith and turfed out UBP incumbent Mr.

Phillip Smith in favour of the PLP's Mr. Leon (Jimmy) Williams. Mr. Smith later said his chances for re-election had been sunk by Government's handling of the issue.

Next door in St. George's South -- long considered one of the UBP's safest seats -- the PLP's Mr. Arthur Pitcher came within a whisker of winning.

In November, Government lived up to its word and signed a ten-year contract with Majesty Cruise Lines. Her 1,055-passenger Royal Majesty -- the 850-passenger limit long having been shelved -- is scheduled to begin cruising to the Old Town at the end of May.

Majesty's partner in the operation will be the apparently irrepressible Boston-Bermuda crowd.

Toward year-end, Tourism Minister the Hon. C.V. (Jim) Woolridge gave some insight into the pressures of the issue.

"I have been kicked around all year,'' he told The Royal Gazette last week.

"And I nearly lost my portfolio over it.'' Despite the deal, the fifth ship issue is bound to rumble on. With her capacity to bring more than 1,000 passengers to St. George's, the Old Town will be jammed with passengers from the other ships scheduled for simultaneous visits.

Government officers, cruise officials and local businessmen are meeting to work out ways to cope with the crush.

In other shipping news during the year, the Bermuda cruise ship scene adjusted to the arrival of two larger ships from Royal Caribbean Cruise Line and Kloster Cruise's.

Together, RCCL's Song of America and Kloster's Dreamward raised the Island's total cruise passenger capacity to more than 150,000.

By the end of the cruise season, Bermuda had hosted 153,841 visitors, the second highest figure ever.

Some people noted that the new capacity brought in by the RCCL and Kloster vessels made the deal for a fifth ship next year unnecessary.

On the basis of planned ship capacity in 1994, the Island could see its passenger arrivals top 175,000, far above levels in the late 1980s when Bermudians complained of too many cruise visitors.

Other 1993 highlights included the April ratification of a new two-year contract between Stevedoring Services and the Postworkers Division of the Bermuda Industrial Union.

The 3.2 percent increase was hailed as a sign of improving labour relations since it was achieved without a work stoppage or slowdown -- a break with the recent past.

In June, nine crewmen aboard the Bermuda-registered tanker British Trent were burned to death after a collision with a cargo ship off the cost of Belgium.

Yesterday, the captain and owners of the Panamanian-registered cargo ship Western Winner were charged with unintentional killing.

The charges followed a two-month investigation of the incident by Belgian authorities.

1993 also saw the first break for the Island's two competing container ship companies, whose incomes have been hurt by rates that have remained below 1985 levels.

During the summer, Bermuda Container Line and Bermuda International Shipping won approval from the US Federal Maritime Commission to discuss all matters related to their business along the New Jersey-Bermuda route.

The approval, in effect, secured the companies' right to apply for rate increases. Since then, they have independently submitted applications that will see a 7.5 percent rate increase by January.

DISASTER -- The Bermuda-registered oil tanker British Trent burns out of control after a Panamanian tanker crashed into her in the English Channel on June 3 this year.