An industry coalition representing the U.S. Virgin Islands’ maritime sector traveled to Washington, D.C., this week, urging federal officials to intervene in what they describe as an escalating crisis triggered by sharply increased charter-vessel fees in the neighboring British Virgin Islands. The visit comes just as the 2025–2026 charter season begins, and operators say the economic consequences are already surfacing across the territory.
The delegation, organized under Project Fair Waters and led by Crown Bay Marina President Kosei Ohno, met with officials from the U.S. Departments of State and Commerce, the Office of the United States Trade Representative, and the Small Business Administration. Coalition members say the sharply higher fees imposed by the BVI on June 1 have placed U.S.-based vessels at a competitive disadvantage, prompting some companies to relocate vessels, cut routes, or otherwise reconfigure their operations.
Under the new licensing system, foreign-based charter yachts face an annual fee of up to $24,000 for multi-night operations in BVI waters — a substantial jump from the previous rate of roughly $800. Day-charter operators have seen their annual fee rise from $200 to $8,500. Operators note these charges come on top of standard customs and port-entry costs, which can add hundreds of dollars per trip depending on the vessel. For many USVI-based companies accustomed to short, frequent BVI runs, the increases have made cross-border itineraries financially unworkable.
BVI officials have characterized the revised structure as a modernization of outdated legislation and a way to better regulate foreign vessels operating in their waters. But charter companies in the USVI say the impact has been swift: several businesses have already reregistered vessels in the BVI to remain viable under the new fee structure, while others have curtailed BVI itineraries entirely. The effect ripples outward, operators say, into the network of restaurants, marinas, fuel docks, hotels, and provisioning businesses that rely on charter traffic.
The charter sector has long played an outsize role in the USVI economy. The Virgin Islands Professional Charter Association estimates the industry generates more than $160 million annually in combined spending on maintenance, hospitality, transportation, fuel, and provisioning. If vessels relocate, much of that economic activity relocates with them.
Project Fair Waters estimates that roughly 90 vessels formerly based in the USVI are now homeporting in the BVI, a shift the coalition believes represents nearly $14 million in direct seasonal spending lost to the territory. When indirect effects are included — such as reduced hotel stays, restaurant visits, or provisioning purchases — the group warns the annual impact could approach $100 million. Those broader figures have not yet been validated by independent economic modeling, but operators say the early signs on the ground are difficult to ignore: fewer crews stocking up locally, fewer charter guests booking rooms before boarding, and fewer boats filling slips in USVI marinas.
The jurisdictional dynamic complicates matters further. Because the BVI is a United Kingdom overseas territory, the USVI government cannot negotiate directly with it on external affairs or maritime policy. That structure, coalition members say, leaves federal engagement as the only viable pathway for relief or adjustment. “Without swift action, the U.S. Virgin Islands will continue losing American businesses, American jobs, and critical maritime capacity,” Ohno said in the coalition’s announcement this week.
Officials in both territories had described conversations earlier this year as constructive, and BVI regulators did revise portions of the initial proposal following pushback from industry groups. But the final fee structure still places foreign-based vessels in the highest cost category, a disparity that USVI operators say disadvantages them in a region where boaters often view the waters of the USVI and BVI as a single seamless cruising ground.
Stakeholders warn that the stakes go beyond economic spreadsheets. Charter tourism has been a defining feature of the USVI for decades, drawing visitors whose spending patterns follow the homeport of their vessel. Should a significant share of the charter fleet shift permanently to the BVI, operators say the territory could see a long-term shift in the balance of the region’s blue-economy activity and its associated workforce.
For now, industry leaders are focusing their attention on Washington, hoping federal officials will raise the issue diplomatically with the United Kingdom. Whether that happens remains unclear. But coalition members say the cost of waiting is rising by the week — and with the charter season now underway, the USVI has little margin left to lose ground.
St. Croix Source
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