ST. THOMAS – Officials from the British Virgin Islands will meet with Governor Albert Bryan Jr. next week about proposed amendments to maritime legislation that would significantly increase fees for charter boats to access BVI waters.
Speaking at a public meeting with maritime stakeholders and BVI government officials in Tortola on Tuesday, Premier Natalio Wheatley said the government officials would be discussing potential adjustments to the bill during the meeting, which is scheduled for Tuesday.
“There’s potential for changes in, perhaps, maybe the fees for day trippers,” Wheatley said. “I think there was even potential for some change for the term charter license that’s restricted.”
In its current form, the proposed legislation would limit a foreign term charter to seven BVI entries annually, unless the charter paid for an unrestricted license.
“That’s one thing that was on the table, was increasing those entries from seven to 10,” Wheatley said.
The proposed amendment would raise the annual fee for unrestricted foreign vessels to $24,000, according to a story printed in the BVI Beacon on February 27. This fee, which is currently $800, has not increased since 1992. Foreign day charters, whose annual fee was $200 under the existing 1992 legislation, would see an increase in their annual fee to $12,500.
This will be the second meeting between the two officials since Bryan threatened tariffs in response to the proposed legislation. Wheatley said their past meeting had centered on the USVI and BVI understanding each other’s models for their respective charter boat industries.
“I think they get a little bit more volume, and typically they go for low fees, and that’s really their model,” Wheatley said. “Our model is a little different. We’re small, so, you know, we may want to rely on a clientele who can afford to pay a little more. And while, of course, we want to be able to accommodate everyone, that’s not the reality.”
Dick Schoonover, a board member of The Marine Association of the BVI, said the board was almost unanimously in favor of the rate increases initially proposed.
“Nobody thought this was out of order,” Schoonover said. “Nobody thought that this was a wild increase.”
This sentiment was echoed by several others during the meeting. One participant, who did not identify herself by name, said she saw the fees and restrictions as a way to protect the BVI product.
“I have run charters entirely in the USVI and I don’t ever want to have to do that again, because the product doesn’t exist over there,” she said. “Frankly, it’s not worth it. You have such a great product here that we need to protect it. We need to make sure that every experience that people have is high quality, and you’re not going to continue to have high quality experiences if you just flood everybody and allow all the doors to open.”
Ehren Hendersen, owner of Hendo’s Hideout in White Bay on Jost van Dyke, said while he had been shocked to see the amount of negative blowback from the USVI about the proposed legislation, he did think something needed to be done about the customs check-in process.
“A lot of the complaints that we’ve been getting are centered around things like, you know, when you go to check in, it takes an hour and a half, two hours,” Hendersen said, suggesting a streamlined, online check-in process would be more aligned with the tourism product the BVI was offering.
Alex Lake, owner of the BVI’s Courtesy Charters, also expressed concern over the negative impression long wait times had on day trippers from the USVI.
“I don’t think the fees is an issue, they just feel like the fees is an issue because they get nothing for it,” Lake said. “It’s the long wait and still having to pay the fees is what looks terrible to their guests. What are they getting? Most of the day is spent at the dock.”
The legislation also restricts foreign-based bare boat charters to four-day stints in the BVI. John Samuel, managing director of the Virgin Islands Shipping and Maritime Authority, said this was part of a strategy to protect the BVI-based bare boat industry.
“The four-day limit, which the industry has supported, relates to making sure that the BVI’s bare boat charter fleets and operations stay intact and in the BVI, and not shift to the USVI,” he said. “That new element of bare boat charter out of USVI is not an existing staple. It is a new piece that the USVI businesses want to bring in. And if we allow it, some of you in here will take your boats from here and stick them in USVI, which is a problem for us.”
Wheatley said that while the draft bill was now in the purview of the House of Assembly, it was not finalized.
“We have the ability to amend the order paper or to delay items on the order paper until we have all the necessary conversations,” Wheatley said.
But Wheatley also said these were complex issues, and that while they were attempting to balance different views, it ultimately came down to what was in the best interest of the territory.
“It’s going to be impossible to please every single entity who wants to see the bill a particular way,” Wheatley said. “I think we want to do what’s best for the BVI generally, and that may mean that not everybody gets exactly what they want.”
