After returning from a closed-door committee session last Thursday, the House of Assembly passed a bill that members said is designed to update maritime rules and help keep the seas safe.
The final version of the Merchant Shipping (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which passed with amendments, now awaits the governor’s assent before it is Gazetted and made public.
During an earlier HOA meeting on March 31, Premier Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley explained the four main purposes of the legislation: to ensure compliance with international regulations, to strengthen law enforcement powers at sea, to expand eligibility for ship ownership, and to update the process for enacting maritime regulations in the Virgin Islands.
“These legislative reforms will not only ensure our compliance with international obligations but also reinforce our ability to effectively regulate, enforce and support the global maritime industry,” Mr. Wheatley said at the time.
Among other provisions, the amendment seeks to comply with the International Maritime Organisation’s safety standards by enacting new Merchant Shipping (Safety of Life at Sea) Regulations.
Three-hour debate
The House debated the bill for approximately three hours on March 31 before entering the closed-door committee session to discuss it further in private.
Members mostly supported the bill, but some also sounded warnings about particular provisions.
Deputy Premier Julian Fraser, for instance, complained that the bill would empower the governor to make regulations, and Opposition Leader Myron Walwyn raised concerns about provisions that would allow police to carry out maritime seizures and arrests without warrants.
“The powers of seizure and arrest are serious powers — particularly the powers of seizure, because you just can’t seize things like that without a warrant on land,” Mr. Walwyn said on March 31. “And so, Madam Speaker, there is nothing that gives directions; there’s no code of practice that goes along with this section. And that is where the dealbreaker is for me.”
Shipping registry
Opposition member Marlon Penn also contributed to the March 31 debate.
“I’m eager for us to really give the shipping registry and the maritime authority the tools that they need to go out and solicit the business that they need,” Mr. Penn said. “But I agree that we have to ensure that while we’re fulfilling international obligations, we’re not adversely affecting our local businesses, our local operations in the maritime space.”
On the government side of the aisle, Junior Minister for Financial Services and Economic Development Lorna Smith stressed the “critical importance” of the bill, noting that the VI’s Category One status allows the territory to register large boats, such as mega yachts and cargo ships of any size.
In the premier’s closing statement on March 31, he echoed this line of argument.
“The changes we are making to the Merchant Shipping Act are key in being able to perform well in this audit so that we can retain our Category One status and to be able to register these big vessels, which is big business for the territory,” Mr. Wheatley said.
Last Thursday, HOA members began the day continuing the closed-door committee session, and in the afternoon they returned to pass the bill with amendments with no further debate.
Then Mr. Wheatley amended the Order Paper to include the first reading of the Immigration and Passport (Amendment) Bill. Subsequently, Mr. Wheatley introduced the bill.
The HOA was then scheduled to return at 10 a.m. on Tuesday of this week.
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