The Tribune

• ABM chief eyes ‘flag’ status and registry

• PM and tourism minister voice interest

• Charter fee portal gets $2m in five months

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas will enjoy “the equivalent of cruise ship home porting” if the government follows through on pledges to develop a fully-fledged yacht registry, Tribune Business was told yesterday.

Peter Maury, the Association of Bahamas Marinas (ABM) president, said this nation’s maritime industry would receive a significant boost if this nation can establish itself as a “flag” state for the mega yachts and charter business it was able to attract during the COVID-19 pandemic’s peak.

Besides tax and fee income for the government, he added that enticing these vessels to adopt The Bahamas flag would also encourage them to select this nation as their “home base”, bringing with them the dockage, fuel, groceries and electricity consumption that goes with maintaining their conditions and operations.

Describing the sector’s spending as more “street level” than that of hotel and cruise ship guests, with funds going directly into “Bahamian pockets”, Mr Maury said the prime minister and Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, had already spoken to the ABM about doing what was necessary to develop a modern yacht registry.

He added that The Bahamas’ Maritime Act would need to be amended and upgraded to achieve these ambitions, with “private charter yachts” better defined and the limitations imposed by being a “red ensign” state eased, but asserted that the economic benefits were worth it.

Mr Maury said Bay Street Marina, which he operates, had incurred a $58,000 electricity bill last month as a result of all the power that was consumed by vessels berthed at its docks. He added that the ABM’s SeaZPass online portal for collecting four percent yacht charter fees on the government’s behalf had garnered $2m in five months, while one 120-foot vessel present in The Bahamas for eight months had informed him that it had consumed almost $1m worth of local goods and services.

“The government has made huge steps in home porting, so hopefully we will get something for the marinas,” Mr Maury told Tribune Business. “We’re trying to get The Bahamas’ flag for private limited yacht charters. Those boats currently carry the Jamaican flag, and we eventually hope to get to that because it will be good for the country.

“These boats would flag in The Bahamas, and this would basically be their home base. It would be the equivalent of home porting for the cruise ships. They’d be flagged under the Bahamas, and a lot of money and products they consume would be spent in-country.

“The Prime Minister and minister of tourism have spoken extensively with us about it, and if we can get it, great. They have to make some changes to the legislation, which they have put someone in charge of. If we can do that we will get these boats to spend time and money in this country and it will be better for The Bahamas.”

The Bahamas has a yacht registry, but it has not been extensively promoted or marketed. Mr Maury said he would “not know if there were half a dozen ships on it”, even though such a facility could be an asset to The Bahamas’ post-COVID revival due to its links with the maritime industry, proposed aircraft registry and the high net worth individuals that the financial services and real estate industries seek to attract.

The ABM chief said developing a yacht charter flag could generate opportunities for brokers, shipping agents and onshore service providers in supplying these vessels, as well as creating work for Bahamian attorneys and insurers.

“Our legislation currently is outdated and needs to be updated,” he added. “Jamaica and the Marshall Islands updated theirs and get the majority of these boats. The Prime Minister and minister of tourism asked us about this, and we said: ‘Yes, 100 percent this needs to be changed’.

“In the Maritime Act we have to define private yacht charters. We’re a red ensign state and have to make some changes to that to be competitive. It’s a lot more restrictive as to what we can do.”

Pointing out that yachting is a $75bn global industry, Mr Maury said 150-foot vessels often spend between $200,000-$250,000 per month “just to operate” and the industry’s significance had been brought home by the COVID-19 pandemic when many other tourism niches were shut down.

“The same boats seen in my marina are seen in Exuma, Eleuthera and the southern islands,” he added. “It’s a great opportunity, and a lot of people have seen that now as a result of last year when everything else was slow. Private yachts shone through.

“The hotels and cruise lines are coming online, and we’ll move to the back of the room but we shouldn’t because there’s a great opportunity for The Bahamas in maritime.... It’s an economy all of its own like Airbnb. Our guests are more of a street level guest. They go into the food stores, gas stations, liquor stores, the restaurants.

“This is a direct business. It goes into the pockets of Bahamians while cruise guests stay largely on the ship and only do some shopping. The yachts we have here hire deck hands, laundry persons. It’s a direct street level economy as it goes right into Bahamian pockets, and is not like a hotel or cruise ships where it gets filtered.”