criticises the Song of America as being too big for the old town, shipping agent Mr. Donald McPherson says.

The mayor, whose company Meyer Agencies, represents the cruise ship Horizon , failed to point out that his ship is effectively bigger than the Song og America .

In a statement to The Royal Gazette , Mr. McPherson reported that in five of six measurements the Song of America is smaller than Horizon .

"Following the publicised comments of His Worship the Mayor of St. George's in expressing his concern that the mv Song of America is larger than the mv Horizon and therefore should not have been given permission to call at St.

George's, we have been literally inundated with enquiries as to just how these two vessels compare.

"Here's how they measure up: Song of America Horizon length 703.77 feet 682.4 ft beam on waterline 93.2 ft 95.14 ft maximum draft 22.9 ft 24.3 ft gross tons 37,584 46,811 net tons 18,764 24,471 height above water 90 ft n/a, 90-plus feet "Perhaps the mayor is right,'' Mr. McPherson continued. "Maybe we should limit the size. How does 38,000 gross tons sound?'' Both ships are considered by the Marine & Ports to be the maximum size allowable into St. George's Harbour.

Mr. Hayward's comments as mayor were prompted by the frequency which the big ships miss their calls in the Old Town because of bad weather.

In 1992, bad weather forced the Horizon to miss four visits and delay three others for a day. Song of America , like the Horizon , has been required to install special navigation equipment to assist it through the narrow Town Cut channel leading into the St. George's harbour.

In addition, Marine & Ports has imposed strict restrictions on when the two ships can enter the harbour. Neither can enter Town Cut when winds exceed 18 knots with gusts beyond 25 knots.