Casino Pride buys ‘substitute’ casino vessel

Casino Pride Group has marked the addition of the Argosy IV riverboat casino to its fleet, following the company’s $8.5m acquisition of the vessel earlier this year.

The three-deck Argosy IV previously operated in Kansas City, Missouri and Sioux City, Iowa. In September, the boat was towed to New Orleans, where it was loaded onto a semi-submersible boat before making the trip to India.

Pride Group already operates two floating casinos in Goa, Casino Pride I and Casino Pride II, as well as the Casino Paradise in the Neo Majestic hotel in the state capital Porvorim.

While the vessel’s arrival in Goa sparked rumours that the state government had issued a seventh floating casino licence, Pride Group director Shrinivas Nayak clarified that the company had bought Argosy IV as a “substitute” gaming platform which will operate while the firm’s original ships are laid up in dry dock for maintenance and repairs next year.

“The two vessels [Pride 1 and Pride 2] are steel hull vessels and they have to go in to a dry dock for repairs. Since this takes a long time, we thought of having a spare vessel,” Nayak said.