St. George's merchants experienced more bad luck yesterday when the Zenith was forced to anchor outside Town Cut because bad weather.

The move followed the early departure of the Horizon on Monday evening.

The merchants, who rely on the business from the cruise ships while they are berthed in St. George's, once again called for a solution to the issue of bad weather preventing ships from entering and leaving St. George's Harbour.

"As a Country, this doesn't represent us very good,'' said restaurant worker Peter Joell.

"Not only is the weather preventing us from getting good business today, but the cruise ship passengers we rely on are not here to compensate.'' The Zenith anchored at Murray's Anchorage for the majority of the day because 25 knot winds prevented her from entering the harbour through Town Cut.

Passengers were ferried across choppy waves into the harbour.

Meyer agent Capt. John Moore admitted that it was a frustrating situation and noted that the ferry service to the passengers was the only available solution at this point.

"We had anticipated bringing her in, but the weather was closing in on us,'' he said. "Right now the ferry service is working.'' Mr. Moore said he has faced backlash from merchants and noted that they hold him partly responsible for the ship not making it into the harbour.

"It's been a long day today,'' he said. "Once again, I can appreciate the loss of revenue because of the passengers not coming in and I can sympathise with what they're going through. All I can say is that we are looking into solutions.'' At press time, the Zenith was cleared to enter through Town Cut, but merchants insisted that the loss of an entire day of business would definitely be felt.