In what the company is referring to as "a repositioning" in response to "numerous requests for overnight cruises to Bimini", Resorts World Bimini (RWB) - which lost about $30 million in the first half of 2014 - has canceled the Bimini SuperFast Port Everglades route after less than one month of operation.
SuperFast announced the schedule change last week, revealing that the ship will revert to offering four overnight cruises to Bimini from Port Miami.
Meanwhile, RWB issued a press release on the so-called repositioning.
"Following numerous requests for overnight cruises to Bimini, Resorts World Bimini has announced the repositioning of Bimini SuperFast to
operate two-night cruises from Port Miami on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, departing at 5 p.m. and returning at noon two days later. Additionally, the company will offer a one-night weekend cruise on Saturdays, departing Port Miami at 5 p.m., returning at noon on Sundays. The new schedule begins Thursday, November 13, 2014."
Bimini SuperFast began offering trips from Port Everglades on October 14. However, average passenger numbers quickly dropped.
Resorts World Bimini is owned by Genting Malaysia; the company completed the first phase of its port facility in September after a series of challenges, including resistance from environmental groups over the port's dredging. Genting purchased 6.6 additional hectares of land for nearly $25 million in September for further expansion of RWB.
RWB is currently scheduled to open a 305-room hotel on Bimini in January, but the market has expressed doubts that the resort will turn a profit in the first half of the year.
A report by CIMB Group, the largest Asia Pacific-based investment bank, has projected that the controversial resort will not turn a profit until Q3 2015.
Genting Malaysia's second quarterly report filed in August 2014 indicated that RWB operated at a loss of over $16.1 million in Q2 2014, a slight increase from the previous quarter. The resort has operated at a loss since it opened in 2013, due to what Genting has categorized as continued "operational challenges as a result of the infrastructure and hotel capacity constraints".
Despite RWB's continued operating loss, the Genting report suggested that RWB's numbers would grow following the completion of its controversial deep-water jetty. However, the cancelation of the Bimini SuperFast service casts a questioning light on that assumption.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian