By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Marinas in the northern Bahamas have been hit with multiple cancellations due to a combination of boating industry uproar over new and increased fees plus confusion over planned legal reforms.

Peter Maury, the Association of Bahamas Marinas (ABM) president, yesterday confirmed to Tribune Business that members have been calling him to report yacht charters are cancelling their bookings and reservations as far out as the 2025-2026 winter season over uncertainty and concerns relating to the revised cruising and fishing permit moves and associated fees.

Asserting that The Bahamas is now “nickel and dime-ing everyone to pieces”, he added that the legal and regulatory provisions accompanying the Budget now require visiting boats and yachts to deal with multiple government agencies for anchorage fees if not staying in a marina, their cruising permit and now a separate fishing permit.

Mr Maury, speaking to this newspaper after multiple yacht and boating forums exploded with concern and push-back over the altered regulations and fee structure, said the uncertainty could not have come at a worse time with the Budget-related changes - set to take effect from July 1 - coming just three days before the US Independence Day holiday which is traditionally a key period for boating business.

And, with confusion swirling over whether all boats coming to The Bahamas will need an automated identification system (AIS) that is fully functional and turned on at all times, the ABM chief argued that this nation has yet again not given an industry sufficient time to adjust to the changes and take too long to “disseminate the message” about what is actually happening.

Wayne Munroe, leader of government business in the House of Assembly, told Tribune Business on Friday that the AIS requirement was amended the night before to mandate that only vessels 55 feet and over are required to possess such a system.

“I know that there were changes to at least six of the Bills substantively, but I cannot recall all the details,” the minister of national security said. “I know there was a change to that requirement for the vessels to have AIS installed and activated. It was limited to vessels 55 feet and over.

“The Defence Force says that’s very useful when they get lost to help find them. We do pay attention to what people say and consider it.” The change came after maritime industry executives, at a Port Department meeting the Friday before last, warned the AIS measure could prove a deterrent to small boats/yachts and drive them away from visiting The Bahamas.

However, Mr Maury said the 55-feet limit still did not align with US Coastguard and international requirements that only require vessels 65 feet or longer to be equipped with an AIS. And, besides the ongoing uncertainty and confusion on this issue, boaters are now also threatening not to come to The Bahamas over the revised cruising and fishing permit fees.]

One of Tribune Business’s regular Bimini contacts on Friday messaged “plenty cancellations”, adding: “No way a single tripper, which is 90 percent of Bimini visitors, are paying $800 before they leave the dock.”

The revised Customs Management (Amendment) Regulations 2025 introduce a frequent digital cruising card (FDCC) for pleasure vessels that frequent The Bahamas, offering a permit to facilitate “unlimited visits for a period not exceeding two years”. This is conditioned on the vessel obtaining clearance to enter from Customs, and the linking of its registration number to the FDCC.

The permit fees are tied to the yacht or boat’s length. Those 34 feet or less will have to pay $1,500 for an FDCC, while those greater than 34 feet but less than 100 feet will have to pay $2.500, and those exceeding 100 feet, $8,000.

Meanwhile, the fees for a temporary cruising permit are also tied to the same lengths. A vessel that is 34 feet or less will have to pay $500 “for a period not exceeding 12 months”, while the fees for those greater than 34 feet and less than 100 feet, and over 100 feet, are being set at $1,000 and $3,000, respectively for the same period. They will also cover Customs and Immigration attendance costs.

Mr Maury said the current cruising permit for a vessel less than 34 feet in length is $300, so that is set to increase by two-thirds or 67 percent come July 1, while the present $500 levy for boats between 34 feet to 100 feet is now about to double.

The temporary cruising permit will allow a “pleasure vessel” to enter The Bahamas’ twice within 30 days. And, if a pleasure vessel carries more than three passengers, every additional one above the age of six - and who is a non-resident of The Bahamas - will be subject to a $30 per head tax under the Passenger Tax.

The Government, in splitting out the fishing permit fee into a separate levy, and not incorporating it with the cruise permit fee, has set this at $100 and $300 for vessels not exceeding, and exceeding, 34 feet respectively.

Finally, the new anchorage fees for vessels not mooring at a marina are pegged at $200 for a vessel not exceeding 34 feet; $350 for those between 34 feet and 100 feet; and $1,500 for those over 100 feet. The boating and yachting industry consensus appears, like private aviation, to be that the FDCC will only benefit vessels which make multiple, regular annual visits to The Bahamas.

One boater, posting on thehulltruth.com, said: “There is a new chapter on fees as well. Looks like we will be paying $1,400 for our cruising permit and fishing permit now for a week.” Another replied: “So nobody will go”, and added: “Will be temporary like previous follies.” Another said: “I see both sides to this ha ha. More fish for me to miss, more money to pay.”

Others, though, said: “The way I read this: For a cruising permit and fishing permit would be $600 for 34 feet and under, $1,300 for 35 feet and up to $100. This is definitely good for the back and forth crowd, but the one time a year guys are getting hammered - a $1,000 increase for most.”

One poster asserted: “I just spoke with someone who checked in this morning, and that is what he was told. Fee going up on July 1 to $1,000 plus $300 for fishing permit. One return within 30 days or you pay again. If that’s the case, I’ve probably made my last Bahamas trip.”

“Thirteen hundred dollars is crazy,” another boater argued. “I take my boat over every summer and leave it there for two to three months so it provides no benefit to me since I am not going back and forth. This might make sense for Bimini, and even West End and Freeport, but makes no sense since the majority of boaters to the Abacos are not making multiple trips.

“It’s usually over for a week or two then headed home. I can see this severely cutting down on the number of boaters visiting the Abacos.” However, there was some praise for the FDCC. “This is great stuff for recreational boaters who are back and forth frequently,” one posted. “Sure, there is a $150 increase for the one-time boater, but for the folks who go several times a year it’s a huge savings.”

Boating industry contacts spoken to by Tribune Business said that, while not opposed to ensuring that visiting boats and yachts pay their fair share in taxes, any increases in fees/levies must be reasonable and proportionate in scale, with the industry properly consulted in advance and informed of changes in sufficient time so that they can adjust.

Mr Maury told Tribune Business of the current situation: “I’ve had marinas calling me that charters are cancelling reservations for 2026 because of the fees coming from July 1. I’ve had several boats telling me they’re cancelling for Abaco and Bimini because it’s so confusing and the additional fees.

“It’s like everything else. We don’t give enough time and are waiting too long to disseminate the message.... The ones that will suffer the most are the closest marinas [to the US]. It’s not the bigger marinas further into The Bahamas that are going to see the decline because we get the bigger boats, but it’s the weekenders.

“Instead of the cruise permit, they will have to do the separate anchorage fees and separate fishing permit fee, and higher cruising permit. There was no fishing fee; it was included in the cruising permit. You’ve now got to go to all these different entities instead of having one entry process,” Mr Maury added.

“If they’d just increased the fees it wouldn’t be as bad, but now you have anchorage fees as well as your cruising permit and fishing permit. We’re now nickel and dime-ing everyone to pieces. It’s affecting everybody. A lot of boats think they have to get AIS and don’t want to install it. They haven’t taken time to properly disseminate the message.”

Mr Maury added that the upcoming July 4 US independence holiday weekend, which comes just days after the fee changes take effect, is “huge historically for marinas” but they are already receiving booking and reservation cancellations.

“I’ve had two marinas call me, and they are losing bookings for the 2025-2026 season, which is from November 2025 to May 2026,” the ABM president explained. “The fact the laws keep changing, the fees are changing again, brokers are having to re-negotiate [charter] contracts and those contracts are booked a year in advance. The fees keep changing, the contracts have to change.

“People are instead saying book us into the Caribbean, BVI, St Thomas. People don’t want to take a chance. They’re changing their reservations right now. It’s causing great confusion.” Rather than give two weeks for the entire industry to understand what is happening, Mr Maury said the Government should have tabled a Bill to take effect for 2026-2027 to give brokers, yacht owners and central agents time time to provide feedback.

“I’ve already had several marinas call me saying they’ve had bookings and reservations change, which means those boats will not be in the country,” he added. “It hurts all of us; taxi drivers and food stores. They will change their reservations right now if they think fees for their clients are going up. Some of them have taken deposits as far our as February 2026. They cannot take a chance.

“Everybody’s panicking. There’s been no official word out yet for brokers and captains. We need to see it in writing from the Government. We need to see these amendments. I read a lot of these boater forums and do do my peers in the industry. They’re still talking as if everyone has to have an AIS transponder.

“It’s the weekend boats that are going to come over in July. That’s going to hurt Bimini and West End. I’m not saying it won’t hurt the central Bahamas and Nassau. We’ll probably lose some boats, too, because the message has not clearly gone out..... I can’t put a dollar value on it, but it’s on every single forum - The Bahamas’ cruisers forum, the captain’s forum, the fishing forum.

“It’s just a bad way to conduct business, but what can we do about it? These guys don’t want to listen. It’s unfortunate.”