Cause of Ship’s Sinking Is Still a Mystery to Bank

Nearly two weeks after the former cruise ship Princess Louise sank without warning at a shipyard dock, the bank that owns the once-popular floating restaurant is still trying to figure out if the vessel will be saved or scrapped.

Lance Oak, president of the Bank of San Pedro, said Thursday that the bank is interviewing several salvage companies for the job--and that the first bidder offered some advice he didn’t like.

“Their recommendation was to cut it up into pieces,” Oak said. “We weren’t real happy with that.”

Oak said the bank, which had insured the vessel for $1.5 million, would prefer to raise it intact. But officials at the shipyard, Southwest Marine of San Pedro, said the 360-foot vessel--which is half-submerged in 24 feet of water--may now be too heavy to lift in one piece.

The 67-year-old ship, appointed with once-elegant mahogany woodwork and floral carpet, went down suddenly Oct. 30 as stunned viewers watched from other ships. No one was injured, although a security guard who had been on board the ship jumped to safety just before it capsized.

The ship is resting on its starboard side on the bottom of the slip where it capsized. Divers and marine surveyors have examined it, but Oak said they have not determined what caused it to sink.

“They’re thinking whatever the cause is, it’s on the side that’s on the bottom, and they can’t see the side that’s on the bottom. It’s in the mud.”

According to witnesses, the ship began to list severely shortly before it went down at 12:30 p.m. The guard who had been on board reported hearing a loud noise--one marine surveyor said it could have been a door bursting open from the force of the water or tables and chairs careening to one side--as the beleaguered vessel sank.

The former Canadian ocean liner--once known as “Queen of the Northern Seas”--had been berthed at Los Angeles Harbor for two decades. In its better days, it played host to countless weddings, bar mitzvahs and high school proms.

But the popular floating restaurant ran into hard times last year. Owner Marion Perkov declared bankruptcy in April, 1988, and in January the Los Angeles Harbor Department forced the ship from its berth under the Vincent Thomas Bridge to make way for a new dinner cruise vessel, the Spirit of Los Angeles.

The bank has been trying to sell the ship since then. About a month and a half ago, the Princess Louise was moved from Todd Shipyards--where it had been tied up since January--to Southwest Marine for hull repairs.

Mike McKeown, industrial engineering manager at Southwest Marine, said most of the work on the ship had been completed when it sank.