Gambling Ship – Long Jie (ex-Sun Viking) Dragon Speed on the High Seas!

Although not a true pirate ship (in the Somalia context), the Long Jie certainly looks the part. The Long Jie (龙捷 in Chinese) is loosely translated as Dragon Speed and is a full time gambling ship. The ex-Sun Viking, of Royal Caribbean fame, straddles the thin international border between Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia on a daily basis providing a haven for those who need a gambling fix. Gambling has always been popular in Asia but even more so in recent years as Singapore is set to open two huge Casinos in 2010. While gambling ships have had a continual presence in Singapore waters, the number of ships has been growing as shipping companies look to capitalize on the growing gambling boom.

Long Jie (ex-Omar III, ex-Hyundai Pongnae, ex-SuperStar Sagittarius, ex-Sun Viking) was originally the little sister of Royal Caribbean’s first new build triplets. Built at the famous Helsinki Wartsila shipyard, the Long Jie was the last of the three to be built, launched in 1972. She is slightly different from her sisters in 3 obvious ways. Unlike the Song of Norway and Nordic Prince, the Sun Viking was never lengthened. Her bow, forward of the superstructure is actually built one deck higher than her sisters providing a more balanced profile. Additionally, both her forward superstructure and aft decks have streamlined curves which are in contrast to the more boxy design of her sisters. Because of these differences in her design, time has been kind to the Long Jie and at 37 years of age, she still holds her pose very well.

Probably the single greatest aesthetic feature for the Long Jie is the fact that she has retained the Viking Crown Lounge in her funnel whereas this has been removed on her sisters. The Lounge is an integral part of her design and removing it would be akin to cutting the top off a 747. The ship will never look quite balanced without its signature feature. Although Royal Caribbean has made agreements that the Lounge cannot be used, it still adds a unique handsome feature to the ship. The ship has been redesigned internally to optimize gambling. Click here to see the current deck plans of the Long Jie.

The Long Jie visits Singapore 4 times a week (Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday). While at anchor, punters can still make their way out to the ship via regularly scheduled ferries that visit many times each day. Several times each year, the Long Jie hosts a very popular no-limit Texas hold’em poker tournament called, Battle on the High Seas. The Long Jie is still in very good condition and receives positive reviews across the gambling forums in Singapore. Still a beautiful ship, hopefully the Long Jie will still find a useful life after the Singapore mega-casinos open in late 2010.