East End merchants yesterday called for a method of transporting visitors to the area when cruise ships were unable to berth in St. George's.

The call came after the cruise ship Zenith -- on its last visit to the Island this year -- was forced to return to Hamilton yesterday because of choppy seas.

Harbour Radio told The Royal Gazette that the ship, carrying 1,312 potential shoppers, turned back to Hamilton because of heavy swells.

And St. George's businessmen said this was not the first time it had happened.

Kenny Bascome, who holds the concession at Tobacco Bay, said there were a number of East End business people who were upset with what he called the ship's inability to "fulfil a commitment''.

And Mr. Bascome suggested that the owners of the ship should be responsible for ferrying passengers, stranded in Hamilton, to St. George's.

Paradise Gift Shop owner Terrance Roberts said Mr. Bascome's idea for a transportation system to St. George's had merit.

"I was under the impression that a few years ago when they had this type of problem, they had lined up charter buses to bring them down,'' he recalled.

"That's one way around the problem.'' Mr. Roberts said yesterday's "no-show'' cruise ship was a sad way to close out the cruise ship season.

"This was its last trip here,'' he said. "A number of us were hoping to wrap up the season in a big way.'' Larry Mello, of St. George Liquors, said he had noticed the absence of the large ship despite the presence of the smaller Royal Majesty .

"We definitely notice a difference in business,'' he admitted. "We sell a lot of soda, water and bus tickets to tourists. But we don't get upset because what will that solve?'' However, Mr. Mello said he thought the idea of transporting passengers by bus or ferry to St. George's was a good one.

But Leslie Swan, of the retail giant Trimingham's, said Zenith passengers managed to find their way to the St. George's branch.

"We had quite a few Zenith passengers in the store who came in by taxi or by bus,'' she said.

Pointing out that the Royal Majesty was docked in Penno's Wharf, Ms Swan said the store had been busy and there had not been much difference in traffic with the absence of the Zenith .

"I think the smaller stores are feeling it more than us,'' she added.

A representative from one local shipping agency, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Royal Gazette that he endorsed the idea of busing stranded visitors to St. George's.

"They would never use ferries because they are too expensive,'' he pointed out. "But the buses might work.

"There would be an extra expense,'' the representative added. "But it should be looked into since there would probably be many passengers who would be upset if they can't reach a certain port.'' However, a spokesman for the Zenith's local agents, Meyer Agencies, said the cruise ship should not have to pay for passengers' transportation when such an incident like yesterday's occurred.

"It was because of the weather that the ship didn't go,'' Joe Simas said.

"It wasn't the fault of the ship, so the ship shouldn't have to pay for it (transporting passengers to St. George's).'' Instead, Mr. Simas said, Government should arrange for the transport of passengers.

"Transportation is on the Government's side,'' he said. "They have to arrange it because Government runs the public transportation.'' Transport Minister Wayne Furbert told The Royal Gazette while bus charters sounded good in theory, executing the idea was not as easy as it sounded.

"We are talking about transporting a thousand people when bus schedules are already laid out and with little notice,'' Mr. Furbert pointed out. "To move that many people we are looking at almost 35 buses -- 40 people per bus. That is half of the fleet. It just is not that easy on short notice.''