Catalina Cruise Line Puts New High-Speed Boat in Mothballs

A year ago, the Catalina Jet was christened the biggest, fastest, smoothest and most luxurious of Santa Catalina’s passenger vessels, making the crossing from Long Beach to the island in 45 minutes compared with the usual 2 1/2 hours.

But on Monday its owners, Catalina Cruises, said ongoing mechanical problems forced it to mothball the $8-million, 450-passenger craft, and cease service to the city of Avalon. The foundering company also announced that it was laying off employees.

The company refused to take calls Monday. But in a prepared statement, Catalina Cruises President Bruce Voss said: “It’s a very difficult situation for all of us. Our goal is to resume service to Avalon by next summer.”

Voss also said the company planned to refund tickets for the jet boat, and to continue delivering passengers to the island’s year-round campgrounds on its “classic fleet” of slower boats plying out of Long Beach.

News of the company’s decision to send the Catalina Jet back to the shipyards for repairs initially rattled owners of the 250 businesses on the island of 3,500 permanent residents.

An estimated 1 million people visit Catalina each year, and most of them get there by boat. Annual tourism on the island generates an estimated $100 million.

But Catalina’s top business leaders, and the island’s three other carriers, said they did not anticipate any problems absorbing the stricken firm’s passengers.

“Catalina is not stranded, and Avalon is open for business as usual,” said Oley Olsen, a vice president at the Santa Catalina Island Co., the largest sightseeing firm on the island. “There are three other passenger services to Catalina.”

The jet boat, complete with TV monitors, a state-of-the-art sound system and bars on two of its three decks, is the second-largest catamaran in the nation. It was returned for repairs to the builder, Nichols Bros. of Whidbey Island, Wash.