{"id":92789,"date":"2018-11-15T11:41:34","date_gmt":"2018-11-15T19:41:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=92789"},"modified":"2018-11-15T11:41:34","modified_gmt":"2018-11-15T19:41:34","slug":"saipan-casino-shut-down-after-super-typhoon-yutu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/saipan-casino-shut-down-after-super-typhoon-yutu\/","title":{"rendered":"Controversial Saipan Casino Shut Down After Super Typhoon Yutu Causes ‘Millions’ in Damage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Embattled Saipan casino developer Imperial Pacific International<\/a> (IPI) has announced it will close its Imperial Palace Casino \u201cuntil further notice\u201d from Friday after a super typhoon devastated the Pacific island three weeks ago.<\/p>\n

\"Typhoon
A satellite image of Super Typhoon Yutu. Somewhere under that is Saipan and the Imperial Palace Casino, which may now be even more unfinished than it was when it missed its August 31 construction deadline. (Image: Vox)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Super Typhoon Yutu struck Saipan and Tinian in the Northern Mariana Islands on the morning of October 25, killing two people and destroying more than 3,000 homes. With windspeeds of up to 180 mph, it was the most powerful tropical cyclone of 2018.<\/p>\n

Much of Saipan and Tinian remain without power and residents face water shortages — a dangerous situation considering the humidity of the climate. But despite the Mariana Islands\u2019 status as a US overseas territory, the devastation was largely ignored by the world\u2019s media.<\/p>\n

Yutu caused severe damage to Saipan\u2019s airport, and commercial flights have been grounded since. The casino relies almost completely on the remote island\u2019s tourist industry for revenues, which has been crippled.<\/p>\n

‘Like a War Zone’<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cSuper Typhoon Yutu left a trail of destruction on Saipan and Tinian,\u201d said IPI in statement Thursday. \u201cThe natural disaster has been heart-wrenching because the storm left our beautiful islands looking like a war zone. The island-wide destruction affected personal property, our infrastructure, and the business community. Like so many others, Imperial Pacific International, LLC was included in this trail of destruction.<\/p>\n

Imperial Pacific also suffered millions of dollars in unexpected damage, forcing the company to make adjustments to ensure typhoon cleanup and repairs are done safely so employees and development continues to be protected.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The company said it has been running limited operations at the still-unfinished Imperial Palace since the storm hit. It has since undertaken assessment and \u201cmade the difficult decision\u201d to temporarily shut down casino operations.<\/p>\n

Bankruptcy Rumors Quashed<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The news of the closure comes just after IPI issued a press statement denying social media rumors that it had entered bankruptcy proceedings, which it denounced as \u201cslanderous, fake news.\u201d The company added it had launched legal proceedings against the unnamed source of the rumors.<\/p>\n

In August, IPI announced profits had fallen 91.3 percent in the first six months of 2018, mostly because it had been forced to write off $733 million of unrecoverable bad debt, most of which was owed by just ten high rollers.<\/p>\n

It missed its August 31 deadline to complete the Imperial Palace, which itself was an extension from the previous 2017 deadline. After being granted a fresh extension by the island\u2019s authorities — to February 2021 — it promptly laid off 80 construction workers, leading at least one Saipan politician<\/a> to suggest the company could be facing “serious problems.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Embattled Saipan casino developer Imperial Pacific International (IPI) has announced it will close its Imperial Palace Casino \u201cuntil further notice\u201d from Friday after a super typhoon devastated the Pacific island three weeks ago. Super Typhoon Yutu struck Saipan and Tinian in the Northern Mariana Islands on the morning of October 25, killing two people and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":92791,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,10,18],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSaipan Casino Shut Down After Super Typhoon Yutu<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Super Typhoon Yutu has forced the closure of Imperial Pacific International\u2019s unfinished Imperial Palace Casino, just days after IPI announced it had taken legal action against the unnamed source of bankruptcy rumors.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Saipan Casino Shut Down After Super Typhoon Yutu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Super Typhoon Yutu has forced the closure of Imperial Pacific International\u2019s unfinished Imperial Palace Casino, just days after IPI announced it had taken legal action against the unnamed source of bankruptcy rumors.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/saipan-casino-shut-down-after-super-typhoon-yutu\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-11-15T19:41:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/yutu.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/saipan-casino-shut-down-after-super-typhoon-yutu\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/saipan-casino-shut-down-after-super-typhoon-yutu\/\",\"name\":\"Saipan Casino Shut Down After Super Typhoon Yutu\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/saipan-casino-shut-down-after-super-typhoon-yutu\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/saipan-casino-shut-down-after-super-typhoon-yutu\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/yutu.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-11-15T19:41:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-11-15T19:41:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Super Typhoon Yutu has forced the closure of Imperial Pacific International\u2019s unfinished Imperial Palace Casino, just days after IPI announced it had taken legal action against the unnamed source of bankruptcy rumors.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/saipan-casino-shut-down-after-super-typhoon-yutu\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/saipan-casino-shut-down-after-super-typhoon-yutu\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/saipan-casino-shut-down-after-super-typhoon-yutu\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/yutu.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/yutu.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"A satellite image of Super Typhoon Yutu. 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