Anchor Away : The Princess Louise, a San Pedro Fixture, Will Have to Move

The cruise ship Princess Louise--a floating restaurant anchored at the Port of Los Angeles for two decades--is being forced to shove off, but two new vessels are on the way to provide dinner cruises on the water.

Port officials said they offered the restaurant’s berth to one of the new vessels--a 600-passenger ship to be christened “Spirit of Los Angeles”--because they don’t believe the Princess Louise is financially sound. The restaurant filed for protection from its creditors under federal bankruptcy laws in April.

Meanwhile, a San Francisco company is about to sign an agreement with the port to bring a 1,000-passenger ship to a berth being developed for dinner cruises at the new World Cruise Center.

Expected in the Spring

Both ships are under construction and are expected to arrive at the port next spring. The Princess Louise, which is no longer a functional ship, has until Jan. 15 to be towed from its berth.

The announcement of the plan for the two dinner-cruise vessels prompted complaints recently from small cruise operators at Ports O’ Call Village, who said the port was flooding the market and that big ships--based closer to the Harbor Freeway--would take away their customers.

In addition, the president of Hornblower Yachts, the San Francisco company negotiating for the World Cruise Center berth, complained that he thought he would be the only major dinner-cruise operator in the port. Port officials said they had no obligation to tell him they were also negotiating with his primary competitor.

Bit of History

Princess Louise owner Marion Perkov was tight-lipped about the future of the 67-year-old cruise ship, which many San Pedro residents fondly regard as a part of the community.

Perkov sat silently recently while the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners voted unanimously to transfer the lease for the Princess Louise’s berth to the owners of the Spirit of Los Angeles.

Perkov had no say in the lease transfer because the lease is held by San Pedro developers Steven Podesta and Bill Moller, the former owners of the Princess Louise. Perkov paid rent to Podesta and Moller, who in turn paid the port.

Port officials have said they are owed $40,000 in back rent for the Princess Louise, which is still operating under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code. The Princess Pavilion, a restaurant Perkov operates on land near the Princess Louise, will not be affected by the bankruptcy or the lease transfer.

Down From Canada

A former Canadian ocean liner named for the youngest daughter of Queen Victoria, the Princess Louise has played host to countless weddings, bar mitzvahs and high school proms. Built in 1921, the former cruise ship--known as “Queen of the Northern Seas” in its heyday--cruised the Alaskan straits from Vancouver, Canada, to Skagway, Alaska, for more than 40 years.

In 1966, the ship was converted into a restaurant and brought to Terminal Island. It operated there until 1979, when it was moved to Berth 94, under the Vincent Thomas Bridge and not far from the World Cruise Center.

The ship has changed owners several times; Perkov purchased it from Podesta and Moller in September, 1984.

Perkov said several months ago that he hoped to stay in San Pedro and work out a plan to pay off his debts.

“I’m not here to close,” he said in an April interview. “We are inches away from the break-even point. It would be a shame to have to lose her now.”

Jerry Sutton, a San Pedro resident who purchased the Princess Louise in 1966 and brought it to Los Angeles, predicted that a petition drive would be mounted to keep the ship in San Pedro. “I am terribly upset over them wanting to get this out of here,” Sutton said. “It’s almost an historical site here. A lot of people got married aboard, you know.”

Port officials said they did not intend to evict the Princess Louise when they began looking for a dinner-cruise operator in October.

At that time, officials said, they did not know the Princess Louise was running into financial trouble. They said they have long wanted to provide a large-scale dinner-cruise service but did not have the room until new space became available at the World Cruise Center.

Only one company--Buccaneer/Mardi Gras Cruises at Ports O’ Call Village--now offers public dinner cruises and can accommodate up to 145 passengers. Other companies offer dinner cruises for private parties.

Four Firms Interested

After an informal search in which four firms submitted proposals, the Harbor Department selected Hornblower to provide dinner cruises at the World Cruise Center, according to Mark Richter, assistant director of property management at the port.

In April, when the Princess Louise filed bankruptcy action, Richter notified the company that came in second during the port’s search: Holiday Adventures Inc. of Norfolk, Va. Holiday runs its “Spirit” cruises in other major cities--New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago and Miami among them--and was interested in expanding to the West Coast.

Subsequently, Richter said, Podesta and Moller agreed to surrender their lease to Holiday Adventures.