BVI Fees Change Could Cripple Charter Industry, Officials Say

Proposed changes to British Virgin Islands boat charter regulations could stifle or radically reorganize charter business in the entire area, BVI and U.S. Virgin Islands industry insiders said Wednesday.

A bill under consideration by the BVI government would dramatically increase annual fees for USVI-based commercial yacht charters sailing the British overseas territory. An overnight operator’s annual fee would increase 5,900 percent — from roughly $400 to $24,000 if the Commercial Recreational Vessels Licensing Act of 1992 were amended as proposed. A day sail charter operator’s annual fee would go up 6,150 percent, from $200 to $12,500.

If enacted, the fee schedule could change as soon as June 1.

Staci Smith, executive director of the Virgin Islands Professional Charter Association, said large companies might be able to absorb the fee but most small, privately owned charter boat operators in the territory would not. And passing the cost along to customers would only drive business away.

A sudden exodus of charter operators could have profound reverberations throughout the USVI.

“If the BVI gets the new regulations passed, that is going to be an extraordinary expense for the term charters and for the day charters to take on, which could force term charters to have to be based in the BVI. So we could lose all our term charter business here in the USVI, which then would trickle down to the mechanics, the cleaners on the boats inside and outside, all the way down to the florist or our taxi drivers, you know, could affect the hotels,” Smith said. “I mean, it’ll affect everyone in the community.”

If USVI charter boats did not have BVI waters to sail — and BVI bars and restaurants to populate — popular local anchorages could soon be overfull in a way that may even surpass the COVID-19 era, she said, estimating some 90 percent of USVI yachts entered the BVI at some point in a weeklong charter.

Smith and the Professional Charter Association have organized a “Call to Action” town hall-style meeting for Feb. 18 to spread word of the proposed changes and strategize. The Tuesday meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at the Harbor360 Building in Yacht Haven Grande on St. Thomas.

BVI charter operators were also concerned.

The Marine Association of the BVI, a Road Town-based nonprofit composed of 50 charter companies and adjacent partners, wrote to BVI Premier Natalio Wheatley and other elected officials saying the 1992 act needed to be modernized but not in the way suggested.

BVI waters were already overpopulated with charters and environmental degradation seemed eminent, the letter said.

“The current legislative amendments appear to be primarily aimed at regulating USVI vessels out of BVI waters rather than improving the regulatory environment for our own businesses. This approach adds additional weight to an already burdensome and outdated regulatory structure, which is directly contrary to the success of the BVI’s marine industry. It does this while increasing fees exponentially,” wrote Andrew Ball, the association’s chairperson. “Rather than enabling business, these amendments hinder it.”

The association’s board said its members were still studying the proposed changes and lamented the BVI government had not reached out before drafting legislation. The board said its position may evolve.

“It’s early days, and due to the time constraints many members are still working to understand what the proposed legislation means for them and their subsequent feedback,” the board told the Source via email.

Some voices in the USVI charter industry have already started talking about retaliatory regulations, Smith said. But the last thing the industry needed was a hostile back and forth.

“We want to do this peacefully,” she said. “We’re getting all these, like, ‘our government should do this and that and tax them and that tax that.’ Well, we’re not trying to fight a fight. We’re not wanting to battle. We just need fair transportation and fairly fair regulations where we can all work together. I mean, we have a lot of water and, you know, there’s a room for everyone to be able to make money and do a good business.”

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