By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

POLICE in Abaco have just one vessel to combat the high levels of boat thefts in and around the island, officials said yesterday, adding that “limited funds” prevent the force from purchasing more police vessels to combat the problem.

Sergeant Hubert Smith, an officer in the Royal Bahamas Police Force’s (RBPF) Marine Support Services branch, attested to the difficulty of patrolling all of Abaco’s waters with just one boat. The island has been informally dubbed by some as “the boat theft capital of The Bahamas.”

“It’s difficult,” Sgt Smith told The Tribune yesterday. “Only thing we do, we go on the grace of the good Lord to guide us. Because it’s so open, and it’s only one boat.”

His comments came after police, with the assistance of the US Coast Guard, intercepted a stolen vessel in waters near the Berry Islands. Two Bahamians were arrested and taken into custody, for what police believe was a foiled drug trafficking attempt.

According to reports, sometime around 5.30am, the police control room in Freeport, Grand Bahama contacted Bullocks Harbour police and reported that a white, 32-foot Contender vessel was stolen.

A crew from the Berry Islands’ RBPF Marine Unit, with a crew from Grand Bahama, assisted by a United States Coast Guard helicopter, intercepted the vessel some 15 miles off Chub Cay. Two suspects were arrested on board the vessel and were taken to Nassau with the stolen boat.

Police said the two suspects would now face charges in Freeport.

While police said boat thefts occur throughout the country, most incidents occur in Abaco.

Last month, Tribune Business reported that Abaco’s tourism industry is being undermined by the island’s growing reputation as “the boat theft capital of the Bahamas.”

Dennis Lightbourne, the island’s Chamber of Commerce president, told Tribune Business that boat thefts in the Abacos have been a “serious and ongoing” concern, creating the impression that it was an unsafe boating destination.

Recently, North Abaco MP Renardo Curry said he feared the destruction of Abaco’s tourism market as a boat theft ring continues to thrive “at an all time high.” At the time, Mr Curry said a recent boat theft victim was the son of the Miami Dolphins owner, Stephen Ross.

The MP added that the lack of law enforcement on the island has allowed illicit human smuggling to plague Abaco through the use of its northern passage, which extends from Grand Cay to Crown Haven.

In April, an article in the Abaconian, the island’s local newspaper, reported that Kevin Mortimer, officer-in-charge of the Abaco district, noted some increased measures to track down and reduce the number of thefts taking place.

Mr Mortimer reportedly said that there has been a “considerable effort from different agencies,” including the Royal Bahamas Defence Force and the Department of Immigration to assist in combating the problem. He added that a RBDF craft had been assigned to the area to aid in patrol efforts.

Nonetheless, Assistant Superintendent Carlton Adderley of the RBPF’s Marine Support Services, yesterday explained that “limited funds” compromise police’s efforts to ramp up patrol and subsequent apprehension efforts against boat thieves.

As an illustration, he said: “A place like Bimini, you need a boat in Bimini. The demand for a boat in Bimini is much higher than Mayaguana. The demand for a boat in Abaco is much higher than Acklins. So you find that Acklins and Mayaguana presently do not have a boat.

“So wherever the demand is for that vessel, that’s where the vessel goes.”

Nonetheless, he offered tips for Abaco residents to thwart the efforts of boat thieves, who he said typically operate between the hours of midnight and 6am.

He suggested boaters place GPS trackers in a secure location so that they cannot be easily removed by thieves and outfit their boat with security cameras.

He added: “Persons must properly secure their vessel. There’s a number of ways you can do that. Move your prop from your engines, or if it’s on the boatlift, sometimes (thieves) take the boat off the boatlift. They carry these big bolt cutters around and they cut the cables that hold the lift up. Once they cut those cables that boat comes down. Those guys, it takes them just a few minutes to hot-wire those vessels and steal them.

“Put cameras in place that monitor your boat 24 hours a day, put in place a tracking system on your vessel, and also lock your vessel down. Especially if you are leaving your vessel for some length of time.”