By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A prominent realtor yesterday disclosed he is working on a "nano satellite" tracking app that would aid The Bahamas in regulating and taxing "the Airbnbs of the ocean".

Mario Carey, the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate MCR Group Bahamas principal, told Tribune Business he has spent months developing a system that would help ensure this nation gains its "fair share" from the boating/yachting industry while also protecting its ocean resources and creating jobs.

He added that his proposal would use mini satellites to track the presence and movement of all vessels in Bahamian waters, allowing the authorities to both monitor their activities and develop a better mechanism for earning fees from the sector.

Arguing that The Bahamas currently lacked the means to monitor the sector, Mr Carey described this nation's waters as "an extension of Florida without the zip code" that visitors are able to enjoy with insufficient benefits accruing to this nation and its citizens.

He said weekly yacht charter fees ranged from $50,000 up to as high as $600,000, with crews often lacking work permits and the vessels able to travel and do as they please. The well-known realtor said the revenues gleaned from cruising permits and the four percent yacht charter fee were minimal when set aside what boat owners made, especially since the government has admitted it is an area of significant tax/revenue leakage.

"We're broke. We have no money," Mr Carey told Tribune Business. "Our oceans are our most valuable asset, and what are we doing about it. People are making money off this country with the Airbnbs of the ocean, and we're not getting our share. That's how I see it. It's fine if someone disagrees with me, but that's very real.

"I'm trying to do a monitoring system to monitor every vessel that comes into our waters using tracking apps and nano satellites. Every vessel has to activate their GPS (global positioning system) when they come in so we can track them."

Mr Carey urged that the Government adjust the fee structure so that all incoming vessels were charged a "substantial" levy based on boat size and number of crew. His monitoring system would then track how many days they spent in Bahamian waters, and how many nautical miles they travelled, with a final levy based on those benchmarks.

He argued that the extra revenues raised would help finance his monitoring system, with no initial capital contribution required from the Government as it would all be financed by the private sector via a private-public partnership (PPP) arrangement.

"The nano satellites are an affordable way to do this," Mr Carey said. "The technology doesn't cost that much. Each satellite lats five years, and it costs $3m for five years."

Disclosing that he has been working on the initiative since April, he added that "very encouraging" discussions had already taken place with government officials and the likes of Save the Bays, the Bahamas National Trust, divers, charter companies and "the people from the blue economy".

Mr Carey continued: "I've put a lot of time into this space since April. What I see happening in our oceans is deplorable and is not done by Bahamians. We are an extension of Florida, our oceans, without the zip code and have been taken advantage of for too long. It is foreign vessels who are doing the damage and making the money. The system is faulty and need to be changed.

"We can build a business model easily and monetise it. We can use it to build a workforce to protect our marine resources." He said that upon entering The Bahamas, visiting yachts and boaters would be informed of the laws and rules, agree to comply and apply for the necessary permits while also switching on their boat's tracking devices.

The Government itself has readily agreed that the boating/yachting industry is a substantial source of revenue leakage. K Peter Turnquest, deputy prime minister, told last year's Eleuthera Business Outlook conference that the government would target untapped existing revenue sources such as the four percent yacht charter fee in the upcoming budget.

"We are looking at new revenue sources," he confirmed. "One of the big ones we anticipate is in the yacht registry and chartering industry. We know there are vessels that come here and stay for six months conducting charter business during that time and not registering as commercial entities.

"As a result, The Bahamas gets no revenue. There is a four percent charter fee we are supposed to collect but, if they don't register, then we are not collecting our four percent. It's estimated that it could be as high as $50m a year."

He then moved to make good on his word, for in unveiling the 2019-2020 budget he said "government will increase cruising permit fees from $150 on boats up to 34 feet, and $300 on boats 35 feet and over, to a set of rates based on size and length of stay ranging from $150 per three months to $4,000 per year. These rates will become effective January 1, 2020, so as to allow a transition period for the boating industry".

However, the Government modified some of the fee increases following feedback from the Association of Bahamas Marinas (ABM). However, the 2020-2021 budget introduced further change through the Customs Management (Amendment) Regulations 2020 that imposed the requirement to obtain a "certificate of clearance".

Marlon Johnson, the Ministry of Finance's acting financial secretary, told this newspaper that the "certificate of clearance" was designed to ensure all pleasure craft entering The Bahamas' waters paid due cruising permit fees.

Given that these are based on the time a vessel remains here, he argued that the procedure - passed by the House of Assembly as part of the recent budget debate - would enable the government to accurately determine and levy the appropriate fee.