Edward Thomas, president and chief executive officer of the West Indian Company Ltd., said Tuesday that cruise lines are the big players in the tourism industry of the Virgin Islands. Despite the uncertainty in the leadership of the V.I. government’s Department of Tourism, given last week’s firing of Commissioner Michael Bornn, Thomas said the cruise industry is "alive and well."
In an interview with WSTA Radio Thomas said an all-out effort is being made to attract port calls by cruise ships that canceled their regularly scheduled visits as a result of the threat of last month’s Hurricane Jose.
"We are trying to get back on track and retrace some of the cruises," he said. As an example he cited Wednesday's unscheduled visit of the S/S Norway.
On other issues, the WICO head said plans are going forward to begin work on the dock to accommodate the larger Eagle class ships which will begin calling in the Virgin Islands.
"We have secured the required Army Corps of Engineers and DPNR permits," Thomas said, adding that work should begin in April and be completed in time for the opening of the 2000 tourist season. The first of the new class of mega ships is scheduled to call on St. Thomas in November.
Thomas also said Monday’s two cruise ship visits to St. Croix showed that the marketing and incentive effort to promote the big island as a port of call is yielding positive results.
About a year ago, then Gov. Roy Schneider tapped Thomas to negotiate additional port calls to St. Croix by cruise lines which regularly call on St. Thomas.
"There is no doubt that the efforts we have put in for St. Croix are working to our advantage," Thomas said.
He noted that the construction of an additional berthing dolphin off the Ann Abramson Pier in Frederiksted will accommodate vessels longer than 900 feet.
Thomas estimated that the Virgin Islands will see 950 to 970 port calls territory-wide in the year 2000, with that number steadily increasing with up to 1,000 port calls in the territory in 2001.

Dine by candlelight as the Love City Pan Dragons and Baby Pan Dragons hold their third annual pre-Thanksgiving dinner from 6 to 10 p.m. Nov. 20 in Cruz Bay park.
Menu includes turkey and chicken with all the trimmings. There will also be live music.
Tickets are $12 for adults and $6 for children. Purchase tickets at Our Market, Ms. Penn at 693-8807 or ask any Pan Dragon or Baby Pan Dragon parent.

The National Park Service is hosting an open community meeting in the Legislature Building conference room from 6 to 7:30 p.m. to discuss recent and soon-to-come changes affecting the St. John community.
These include the new moorings, efforts to create vessel management and commercial services plans, and an update on park fees. To learn more, call 776-6201, ext. 241.

HOVENSA executives have hit the road to raise $1 billion for the construction of the refinery’s coker project.
HOVENSA vice president Alex Moorhead said Rene Sagebien, the company’s president and chief operating officer, is currently in the midst of a city-to-city "road show" on the mainland visiting potential investors. The $1 billion in bonds the company is seeking would fund the coker construction, refinance debt and pay for smaller projects over the next five years, Moorhead said.
"We’re expecting the bonds will be sold by the end of November," Moorhead said in an interview on WSTX radio Monday.
If the financing for the project is completed by early December work is expected to begin in January and continue until January 2002. Moorhead has said that at the height of the coker construction project next October some 2,000 workers will be employed.
Last year, Hess Oil of the Virgin Islands Corp., seeking a partner to better position the company for the future, entered into a joint venture with Venezuela’s national oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela, to form HOVENSA. According to Moorhead, HOVIC had lost approximately $1.2 billion between 1991 and 1998.
The joint venture will, among other things, include a long-term supply contract to purchase Venezuelan oil, fulfilling about 50 percent of the refinery's operating requirements.
Every time the market goes down, the company's entire inventory has to be revalued. That applies to oil en route from such places as Saudi Arabia, which can take up to 45 days to arrive. The voyage from Venezuela, in contrast, is only two days and the company won't have to pay for the crude until it's used.
The Venezuelan crude, however, is heavier and needs a coker to be processed. Without the coker HOVENSA is forced to process crude oil that is $2 to $4 per barrel more expensive than what the company’s competitors process.
In another effort to improve the refinery’s profitability, HOVENSA hired Jacobs Panamerican Corp. in July to manage the maintenance and reliability of the refinery’s petroleum processing equipment.
The St. Croix refinery, the largest in the Western Hemisphere, employs some 850 people and produces about 400,000 barrels of oil a day, although it has the capability to pump out 500,000 barrels a day. Leon Hess constructed the facility in 1966; it is now the largest private-sector employer in the territory.

The University of the Virgin Islands Board of Trustees will meet at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 6 at the MacLean Marine Science Center on the St. Thomas Campus.
This meeting is the rescheduled date for the October 23 meeting which was postponed due to Hurricane Jose.
The meeting will convene with regular session agenda items beginning with the president's report. Among the areas highlighted in President Orville Kean's report to the board will be implementation of UVI's administrative reorganization, refinancing of the 1994 bonds and the Science and Math Department's 3.5 million dollar grant from the National Science Foundation.
Other committee reports on the agenda include the Development Committee: nominees to the Board of the Foundation for UVI and the capital campaign; Finance and Budget Committee: reports on allotments from the V.I. government and fiscal year 2000 budget reduction plans; Planning Committee: summary report on the 1995-99 Strategic Plan, report on aspects of the new administrative structure; Buildings and Grounds Committee: status of capital improvement projects on both campuses.
At the completion of the committee reports, the board will move into executive session. Dr. Auguste Rimpel, senior partner in Price Waterhouse, is chairman of the board of trustees. The board last met on Aug. 5, 1999 on the St. Thomas campus.

Elvin Yabba Nibet of St John ran away with first place in the Northside Five Mile run sponsored by St Thomas Association of Roadrunners.
Eighteen runners came out to participate in the hilly two mile and five mile event on Sunday at 7:30 a.m. The race courses began and ended at Sorgenfrei. The five mile runners ran past Four Corners turned around at Solberg.
The two mile winner was Mathew Daniels with a time of 15:53. Second place was Christina Driscoll with a time of 22:56.
Elvin Yabba Nibet’s winning time was 37:35. He was followed by Isaah Aronson in 39:49 and Patrick O’Donnel in 40:08. The women runners were led by Grace Tuma, soon to participate in NY City Marathon, with a time of 40:43. The second woman was Jude Woodcock, of St John, with a time of 45:16.
The next STAR event can be found on the Local Sports Calendar.

The yearend holidays are just around the corner, and that means the annual Arts Alive Arts and Crafts Festival is even closer.
It's set for the usual time, the after-Thanksgiving weekend (which this year is Friday through Sunday, Nov. 26-28), and the usual place, Tillett Gardens.
After 18 years of Arts Alive fairs and festivals, you might think it's hard to come up with something new for the 19th. Not so, founder Rhoda Tillett says, sharing these examples:
— Among the first-time exhibitors will be English wood-turning artist Matthew Calder, who will display his one-of-a-kind shaped and polished hardwood sculptures and demonstrate how they are produced.
— An assortment of original ceramic bowls will be exhibited until Sunday at 2 p.m., when they will go up for auction in the "Empty Bowl Project" organized by local potters Gail Schmiedt- Felix and Lynn Berry. They are inviting local clay artists to contribute works to be sold to the highest bidder, with the proceeds to benefit local agencies that provide food and shelter to those in need. Vitelco spokeswoman Katrina White-Comissiong will be the auctioneer. (Potters who haven't been contacted or who would like more information can call Berry at 776-0901 or Schmiedt-Felix at 774-7637.)
— Exhibitors will compete for a record five cash prizes: the John Lovatt Award for best in crafts ($100), the David O'Neill Award for best in fine arts ($100), the Ira Smith Award for best student exhibitor ($50) and the David O'Neill Award for best of show ($200).
Throughout the three days, and into the evening on Friday and Saturday, there will be live entertainment in Tillett Gardens, including traditional mocko jumbie dancing and quelbe music.
"The holiday festival traditionally kicks off the yearend shopping season," Tillett says. "Exhibition space is filling up, but some is still available on a first-come basis. I would especially like to see a few more fine art painters."
Any artist or artisan wanting an application form or further information about exhibiting should call 775-1929, fax to 775-9482 or send an e-mail to tillett@islands.vi. Any musician or other performing artist available for a one-hour gig on any of the three days should do the same.
For more on-line information about the fair, go to www.tillettgardens.com.

The Harmonic Lodge has rescheduled the Annual past Master's Dinner Dance for 7 p.m. on Jan. 15, 2000, at the Renaissance Grand Beach resort.
Tickets purchased for the hurricane postponed Oct. 23rd date will be honored.
For additional information contact Etienne Bertrand at 775-5491 or Jim Hague at 775-6633.

The first round robin of the Louis Vuitton Cup, the qualifying series for the America's Cup Regatta, has been completed with each of the eleven contenders having a race against each of the opponents. Source sailing reporter W. Bostwick comments on the action and suggests matches to check in the next round.
Most of the experienced commentators predicted three teams would be on top, Prada, (Italy), Young America (New York Yacht Club), and AmericaOne (San Francisco's St. Francis Yacht Club). The factors of money, experience of crew, depth of team, and long hours of practice put these three at the head of the pack.
Fifty races later no one has lost any money betting on the sure things.
This does not mean all the races are boring, however. There have been exciting leads changes, dramatic gear failure, and very close action between these nimble and powerful 75 foot boats.
One match between the Aloha Challenge and AmericaTrue featured a 35 tack duel on a single upwind leg. Most of the very close action is during the pre-start maneuvers which have included two collisions. But a down wind leg between Prada and AmericaOne had the boats overlapped with the distance between them varying from ten to twenty feet for a period of almost 15 minutes, while both boats were trying to go at their maximum speed!
The long months of practice put in by the Italians have paid off. Reliable crew work, good boat speed and a great match racing skipper in Francesco de Angelis have combined to give Team Prada an unblemished 10 and 0 record.
Paul Cayard, captain of AmericaOne, must be pleased with the first round results (8-2) dealt out to his team. Their loss to Prada by 17 seconds came at the end of a close fought affair with spinnaker gear failure on both boats causing the major passing opportunities.
The only other loss came as a result of inability to keep the main sail attached to the mast in a high wind day during their match against Young America. AmericaOne tried to sail the course hoping for a breakdown on the part of Young America, but gave up and retired to go start tweaking for the next round robin.
Young America and skipper Ed Baird also had a great first round to finish equal to AmericaOne at 8 wins and 2 losses. Young America also had a great battle with Prada, again with spinnaker gear problems letting a close "Luna Rossa" into the lead past Young America. The New York Yacht Club based boat finished only 10 seconds behind the Italians. The other loss was a gear failure on the strong wind day, making it impossible to sail the course against Stars and Stripes.
Really though, these are just the warm up races. Each race in the first round robin is worth one point, wins in the second are worth four points and wins in the third are worth nine points. So winning three races in the next set of races is worth more than winning all ten of the first races.
Remember also that six boats will be going to the semi-finals. This means it is more important not to be number seven, than to be number one.
As reported by Peter Holmberg, all teams, especially the one boat teams, are now going ‘back to the shed' for modifications. The modifications will vary from mild to wild. The more successful teams will most likely do minor changes to suit any expected difference in the forecast weather during the next round. The guys on the bottom of the heap, like the Swiss with their radical double keel configuration, will be trying anything to improve.
Even as the last racers and umpires were going home from the last race, their way was blocked by a large welding truck entering the French compound. Word is they plan major changes to their hull (chain saw type major) and are going for a new keel.
The second round will define who is "on the qualifying bubble" as they say at the Indianapolis 500. The fourth through eighth teams, AmericaTrue, Japan, Spain, Stars and Stripes, and the Aloha Challenge from Hawaii are all very even.
Watch for matches between these players and also what kind of surprises France, Young Australia, and the Swiss can pull out of the shed on November 6.

Round Robin One is finally over. We have raced each of the other ten teams once, with each race worth one point. We will do another Round Robin starting November 6 (with each win worth four points) and then Round Robin 3 starting December 2 (each win worth nine points). The intent of this increasing point value is to allow teams to improve their boat and crew so as to help select the best Challenger to race against Team New Zealand, current holders of the America's Cup.
The best funded teams each built the maximum number of new boats allowed by the rules (2) and as expected came out strongest in the early rounds. Each of the one-boat teams used the low point Round One to learn their boat, test against the more advanced teams, and are now making big upgrades. That's the theory at least!
Italy (Team Prada, skipper Francesco DeAngelis) leads with 10 wins and no defeats. San Francisco (AmericaOne, Paul Cayard) is second with 8 wins and 2 two defeats. New York (Young America, Ed Baird) is third at 8 and 2. Fourth is the second San Francisco team (AmericaTrue, John Cutler) at 6-4, fifth is Japan (Nippon, Peter Gilmour) at 6-4, sixth is Spain (Desafio Espanol, Pedro Campos) at 5-5, seventh is Stars & Stripes (Dennis Conner) at 5-5, eighth is Hawaii (Abracadabra, John Kolius) at 4-6, ninth is France (Le Defi, Bertrand Pace) at 2-8, tenth is Australia (James Spithill) at 1-9, and eleventh is Switzerland (FAST 2000, Jochan Schuman) at 0-10. The only footnote to this is that Japan and Stars & Stripes each had a ½ point deducted for crashing into another boat!
We on Stars and Stripes had a tough series. We are all very good sailors and it is not easy to keep your composure when getting beat by teams with faster boats. But we have done a good job keeping the crew's moral up, assuring them that we have more to learn and improve than the others, so better times are ahead.
The highlight of this series was the rough conditions and strong winds that caused a lot of gear failures and teams unable to finish their races. We are quite happy that our boat has proven strong and well built, as we were able to complete all of our races in the 20-30 knot winds and big seas.
So how is it onboard for this St. Thomian from the easy-going Caribbean? Kenny Read is our helmsman and I am the tactician, with the job of creating the tactical plan against the opponent and for the changing wind direction. I am the lucky one who holds the position which is traditionally blamed for losing races, but never credited for winning, as that honor gets taken by the helmsman. This is of course why I have always tried to be the helmsman in my racing career! But it is a good challenge that is teaching me to grow thick skin and I am learning a tremendous amount from all those around me.
As for the skinny on what's really happening, I am very happy to see that no one is blazing fast and out of reach, and that the Italians and New York with all of their testing and training are only a little faster than our team. The French are making major changes to their hull (with a chain saw) and keel (new one). I think we have a good boat with the ability to win if given the right upgrades. We have some nice improvements planned for our mast and sail program, which should give us some good leaps forward. We also have a long way to go before we are sailing the boat to it's full potential. We now have one week to catch our breath, make some of these changes, and get prepared for the start of the next Round.