This law states that a charter yacht vacation that has more than six guest cannot begin their voyage from the U.S. Virgin Islands!

You remember that last November at the Virgin Island Charter League Boat Show in St. Thomas, I was asked to be the internet reporter for the event.  Because taking on this fun and challenging task I had the opportunity to meet and get acquainted with some wonderful people within the charter yacht industry and several of the USVI elected government leaders; Gov. deJongh and his wife, Lt. Gov. Francis and his wife, and Senator Hill.  My last blog posting was about a letter I received from Gov. deJongh last week responding to a letter I sent to him about the Six-Pack law and how it may be time to have it changed.  One of the people at the show that I met was the chairperson for the show, Shelly Tucker - co-owner of the charter yacht Three Moons.  She immediately jumped on the band wagon regarding how to invite the government officials to address the Six-Pack law.  Below is the letter that I referred to in my blog that Shelly wrote and I edited.  IT IS A LONG LETTER,  BUT ONE THAT I BELIEVE YOU WILL FIND VERY INTERESTING.  Today, the results of this law are causing a BIG loss of income to the USVI because any charter yacht vacation with over six guests now picks them up in the British Virgin Islands - about 20 minutes away from American Yacht Harbor in St. Thomas.  ALL of those tourist dollars are spent in the BVI - hotels, restaurants, etc.  We are hoping that finally the USVI government administration will take this project on and get it repealed.  We welcome your input to these government officials by encouraging them to assist with this important issue.

To:  Governor Of The United States Virgin Islands - June 2008

Dear Governor John deJongh, Jr.

Thank you for your reply concerning the strategies to modify the “six-passenger rule”.  According to our files, the last time a position paper was written concerning this law was in 1994. The paper stated that the charter yacht industry contributed well over $100 million dollars to the U.S. Virgin Islands local economy. By 1993, the figure had fallen to below $30 million. The figure was further reduced after Hurricane Marilyn in 1995. Anecdotal evidence supports this contention. In June 1998, an article was published in the Daily News with the following quotes: Judy Knape, former director of the Virgin Island Charter Yacht League, said,  “The organization had 80 members in 1998. In 1991, the figure stood at 102, and in the mid-1980’s, it was over 204.”  Kathy Mullen, who at the time was the head of the Virgin Islands Marine Industry Association stated, “Within the last five years, the number of businesses that support the marine industry, such sail makers and those providing services to the yachts has dropped by 25 percent.”

In 2001 an official meeting was held with charter yacht captains, charter clearinghouse representatives, and the U.S Coast Guard officials on St. Thomas.  Lt. Kevin Smith of the Coast Guard Marine Safety Detachment agreed to try to identify acceptable safety equivalents to regulations concerning passenger vessels to allow previously un-inspected charter yacht vessels to obtain Certificates of Inspection, increasing the guest capacity from six to 12 passengers. Since there has been such an expanse of time since the last attempt at changing the six-passenger law, we must begin again with renewed efforts to bring this to the consciousness of the decision makers who can re-draft it in a manner that meets all the needs of those who are being negatively impacted.

Despite being designed and constructed to accommodate a larger group of overnight guests, many luxury charter yachts classified as “un-inspected small passenger vessels” are currently restricted by the Passenger Safety Act of 1993 to a six-passenger maximum while operating in U.S. waters, including the U.S. Virgin Islands. In order to carry more than six passengers on charters within U.S. waters, vessels must obtain a Certificate of Inspection, which verifies compliance with the Passenger Vessel Safety Act.

Most of the high-end charter yachts in the League cannot meet the Certificate of Inspection criteria without major structural changes, as well as some equipment and systems refits in order to comply with specs written primarily for passenger ferries and other commercial vessels.  The luxury charter yacht industry as we know it today didn’t exist on the same scale at the time the rules were written.

The inspection issue is not about just compromising passenger safety standards.  It’s about financial viability of the charter yacht industry, and the impact this law has on the tourist revenue to the USVI.  The intent is to identify “acceptable safety equivalences”.  We would like to emphasize that this is an interim step in a multi-level process that will require coordination between the U.S. Virgin Islands and Washington D.C., as well as Coast Guard officials to ensure compliance with existing laws and regulations involving licensing requirements, structural and equipment equivalents.

 The Virgin Islands Charter Yacht League would like to call for a multi-pronged approach to return the St. Thomas charter industry to a semblance of it’s former self and again become a major contributor to the revenue of the USVI:

• Negotiate with the federal government and the U.S. Coast Guard to change the six-passenger maximum rule to allow yachts to pick up as many passengers as they have berths. (Such as in the BVI)
• Allow charter yachts not based in the USVI to do a reasonable number of pickups each year without licenses. The BVI currently allows seven pick-ups each year for yachts not based in their area. This would encourage yachts working up and down the Leeward and Windward chain of islands to pick up guests in the USVI. .
• Provide tax incentives for yachts based in the USVI.
• Increased advertising of the local charter industry through the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Tourism.  
• Have the USVI become more yacht-charter friendly for the benefit of all aspects of the USVI economy.

There are many positive,  supporting facts which strengthen the need to change the six passenger law in the U.S. Virgin Islands:

• Since 1997, the production of luxury yachts 80 feet and above has more than tripled. In 2005, there was a staggering 28% increase in new luxury yachts being built!
• In 1993, the world had fewer than 700 privately owned yachts over 100 feet. Today an estimated 7,000 large yachts are in use!
• Aside from the high entry cost of buying a large yacht, there are tax incentives and advantages to further fuel the desire of owning and providing a yacht for charter.
• Yacht chartering now tops the list of the most popular and most expensive activity for people with a net worth of more than $10 million US.
• According to a survey by Prince & Associates for Elite Traveler magazine, summer holiday spending in 2007 was up 56% from 2005. They attributed majority of the jump in spending toward chartering private yachts - most of which occurred in the Caribbean.  
• Annually, charter yachts in the U.S. Virgin Islands will spend between $20,000 US and up to $200,000 US in provisioning and fuel depending on the size of the vessel.  This does not include the added revenue to the businesses of the USVI from the charter yacht guests who book hotels, restaurants, and shop within the USVI.

The entire VICL Board of Governors is willing to work with you to assist in changing the six-passenger law. Virgin Islands Charter Yacht League mission is to improve the crewed yacht charter business in the U.S. Virgin Islands through public relations, advertising and promotion. Our members stand ready to help you and the USVI Government to restore a “level playing field” and return fair competition between the USVI based charter yacht fleet and our neighboring island/nations. We are truly appreciative of your assistance, and welcome any further questions or comments.

 Sincerely,    Shelly Tucker, VICL Secretary

Until next time…your Caribbean life-style reporter remains on duty!