The Government is negligent when it allows known hazards to persist, ignores repeated warnings, and then acts surprised when the next family is shattered. This death should be treated for what it is: an indictment of governance, enforcement, and accountability in The Bahamas. If nothing changes after this—if the same violations continue, the same weak controls continue, the same silence continues—then the next fatality will not be “unfortunate.” It will be Government-enabled.
-
*My condolences to the Hepburn family - "Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un" (Indeed, to Allah we belong and to Him we shall return)*
> This story should shake the conscience > of this country.
If a Bahamian family can walk into a public hospital ward and find their loved one cold and lifeless—while staff are allegedly unaware—then we are not dealing with an isolated mishap. We are looking at a national failure that has been normalised for far too long. And yes, every Bahamian carries a share of responsibility, because we have tolerated this decline, excused it, voted through it, and learned to live around it as if it is inevitable.
This is exactly the kind of issue that should determine who is fit to govern The Bahamas. Not slogans. Not photo-ops. Not party colours. Governance is a basic duty: protect life, ensure competent public service, and enforce accountability when institutions fail. Princess Margaret Hospital is not a new tragedy. It has a long record of public complaints, trauma, and families left holding grief instead of answers.
I say that personally—not theoretically. My first experience with PMH, what was described as medical negligence, was during a tonsil operation at age 18. I was sent home and bled out a third of my blood. I then spent the next three months in the private ward recovering and being treated for a blood infection. That was 1981. And I thank God for my mother, who found me in my bed covered in my own blood. So when people speak about PMH as if this breakdown is recent, or as if it is “just a bad week,” I reject that. This has been allowed to fester for decades.
This is not something we should be debating as gossip or consuming as headlines. It is a moral and civic reckoning. A country that cannot protect its people at their most vulnerable point—sick, admitted, dependent—has no business congratulating itself on progress. If we want a Bahamas worthy of our children, then the standard cannot be “hope you don’t end up in PMH.” The standard must be competence, dignity, transparency, and consequences when negligence is alleged—every time, without exception.
***'Watch Da Road' ... the ride on Bahamians is real.***
No. You are dragging a completely different argument into the room, and you are doing it the laziest way possible: by smearing an entire people with a racial label, then pretending your smear is “analysis.”
The subject here is simple: US entry is getting harder for Bahamians. That is a policy and enforcement question, documents, scrutiny, interviews, discretion at ports of entry, changing rules, shifting posture. Your “white man this, white man that” rant is not an answer to any of that. It is a deflection designed to hijack the conversation and make it about your personal grievance.
And “Do you see any white Bahamians at Independence celebrations?” is not evidence of anything. It is a sloppy anecdote dressed up as proof, and it ignores an obvious fact: national celebrations are not colour-coded events. People attend what they choose to attend, for their own reasons, across decades, across families, across communities. If you want to claim exclusion, then present something concrete - names, incidents, dates, actions, not a vague sweeping accusation.
Now, since you insisted on race: stop confusing push-back against entitlement with “racism.” Many so-called “white foreigners” walk into small countries expecting the ground to move for them, expecting special treatment, fast-tracked access, and social deference, then when they meet normal resistance, normal rules, normal “no,” they call it racism. That is not a principled stand. That is a tactic. And Bahamians do not exist to perform gratitude or submission for anyone’s skin tone, passport, or bank account.
If you want to talk honestly, then say it plainly: you are upset that Bahamians talk about jobs, work permits, and who benefits from the economy. That debate happens in every country on earth, including the United States, often far more harshly than anything said in The Bahamas. But you don’t get to repaint every economic and immigration dispute as “Bahamians hate white people” just because you dislike hearing Bahamians defend their own labour and their own dignity.
So keep the discussion where it belongs: on US access, border discretion, and the reality of tightening entry, not on race-baiting speeches that insult Bahamians as a whole while demanding to be taken seriously. If you want a serious conversation, bring facts and specifics. If all you have is sweeping racial contempt disguised as moral outrage, then you are contributing to the very problem you claim to condemn.
"Watch Da Road" and if you dont like the Bahamas, find somewhere else to live.
**You wrote: “screw the people that positively impact the Bahamian economy.” That is pure propaganda language, broad, emotional, and deliberately vague, because the moment you get specific, the argument collapses.**
So let’s get specific. Who are these “people”? The ones who benefit from Bahamian stability, Bahamian protection, Bahamian waters, Bahamian infrastructure, Bahamian emergency response, and Bahamian environmental management, then rage when the bill comes due?
Because this is what your comment actually says: “Keep The Bahamas cheap, keep it lenient, keep it easy to exploit, and don’t you dare enforce rules that inconvenience us.” Then you call the country “stupid” for exercising sovereignty.
No. The damage was not caused by fees. The damage is caused by decades of outsiders acting like The Bahamas must compete by discounting itself, discounting its waters, discounting its rules, discounting its dignity. A serious country does not run on begging and appeasement. It runs on enforcement, fair pricing, and respect for jurisdiction.
So I will ask you again, clearly: **who are these “life-giving people”? Name them. And if your answer is “the ones who leave when they can’t get special treatment,”** then congratulations, you just described exactly why the Bahamas must regulate harder, not softer. @Chester @sovereignty @dont_backdown @Bahamas
The core point is simple: Bahamian households are paying up to **$18 per pound** for seafood, in our own country, while visiting vessels can pay a small, renewable permit fee ($100-$300) and then remove hundreds and thousands of pounds of value from the same waters. That is not “tourism”; it is extraction dressed up as leisure. A flat permit structure might look harmless on paper, but in practice it rewards capacity: the larger the boat, the more range, storage, and poundage it can take, yet the fee remains trivial compared to the market value of what is being removed. The end result is predictable: locals pay premium prices, while outsiders enjoy discounted access to the resource and leave Bahamians to carry the scarcity, the monitoring burden, and the long-term depletion risk.
-
So when a figure like Peter advocates that boaters should “not come” because The Bahamas is tightening controls, I do not treat that as principled advocacy. I treat it as pressure to keep Bahamian waters cheap and easy to work. If your business model depends on minimal fees, minimal visibility, and minimal accountability, then the problem is not Bahamian policy, the problem is the model. Bahamians are not obligated to subsidize anyone’s private seafood supply chain while we pay up to $18 per pound at home. - 'Watch da road'. @Chester.
**Again, be careful about the motivation driving the advocacy.**
In 2017, the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation pushed public attention onto a problem that The Bahamas cannot afford to ignore: a material share of fishing pressure is routinely hidden behind “tourism” and “recreational” cover stories, while the economic upside is extracted and the ecological cost is left behind. Dr. Nicola Smith’s catch-reconstruction work demonstrated that what is officially reported can understate what is actually being taken—driven heavily by tourism demand and non-traditional channels that do not show up cleanly in standard reporting. (c) Pew Charitable Trusts
Now apply that reality to what many Bahamians see on the water: so-called “charter” operations and visiting vessels that clear as pleasure craft or tourist excursions, but behave like commercial operators—running repeated trips, landing volume, and feeding supply chains that are not transparent to the public. This is not hypothetical. Bahamian reporting in 2025 describes illegal charter fishing as “much larger than people think,” and documents arrests and vessel seizures tied to illegal commercial fishing and charter operations. (c) The Tribune
That is why visibility requirements matter. If a foreign vessel is over 50 feet, The Bahamas requires AIS to remain active at all times while in Bahamian waters, and non-compliance triggers penalties.
**The Islands of The Bahamas**
When people claim AIS is “the problem,” and then choose not to come, or choose to operate in ways that avoid tracking, do not treat that as an innocent inconvenience. Treat it as a signal: some activity depends on low visibility, weak monitoring, and the ability to work the gaps in enforcement.
The Bahamas is not obligated to subsidize that behaviour with its reefs, fisheries, and sovereignty.
**A nation that cannot regulate, monitor, and fairly charge for the use of its territory, land or sea, is not exercising sovereignty; it is surrendering it.**
The FDCC and AIS requirements represent a rational, internationally aligned step toward protecting Bahamian interests while continuing to welcome legitimate visitors who respect the jurisdiction they enjoy. Regulation is not exclusion. It is the lawful assertion of control over national space, resources, and responsibility.
Those who benefit most from The Bahamas should, at a minimum, contribute to its protection, management, and sustainability. For decades, this balance has been skewed against the Bahamian people. Our goodwill, geography, and restraint have too often been treated as entitlements rather than privileges.
We have been repeatedly leveraged and sidelined by powerful external and internal actors alike. Some Residence of and exclusive residential enclaves, in the west, operate as though national rules are optional. The cruise industry extracts billions in value while resisting proportional contribution. Foreign aviation authorities dictate airspace behavior that affects Bahamian sovereignty. International shipping uses Bahamian waters as a free shortcut to feed the United States and Europe, imposing environmental and security risks without commensurate compensation.
Our seas are among the most productive fishing grounds in the Atlantic, yet species such as Atlantic mackerel and yellowfin tuna are harvested to supply global markets with limited benefit returning to the country whose ecosystem sustains them. Marine exploration proceeds under the banner of “research,” while value, scientific, commercial, and pharmaceutical, is exported abroad. Even sand theft and seabed exploitation persist as under-enforced realities.
A current example underscores the stakes. Rare Bahamian marine sediments yielded the discovery of Bahamaolide A, a complex polyketide molecule with potential applications in treating disease and infection. The breakthrough, published after five years of intensive research, demonstrates that The Bahamas is not merely a backdrop for global science, but a source of irreplaceable biological and chemical value. Yet without firm regulatory control, such discoveries risk becoming another chapter in the long history of extraction without equitable return.
This is the broader context in which maritime fees, AIS monitoring, and structured access must be understood. These measures are not punitive, reactionary, or anti-visitor. They are corrective. They reflect a nation moving, belatedly but necessarily, from passive tolerance to active stewardship.
Sovereignty is not rhetoric. It is exercised through law, enforcement, data, and fair contribution. Any party that genuinely respects The Bahamas must also respect its right to govern, protect, and benefit from what is indisputably its own.
**A nation that cannot regulate, monitor, and fairly charge for the use of its territory, land or sea, is not exercising sovereignty; it is surrendering it.**
The FDCC and AIS requirements represent a rational, internationally aligned step toward protecting Bahamian interests while continuing to welcome legitimate visitors who respect the jurisdiction they enjoy. Regulation is not exclusion. It is the lawful assertion of control over national space, resources, and responsibility.
Those who benefit most from The Bahamas should, at a minimum, contribute to its protection, management, and sustainability. For decades, this balance has been skewed against the Bahamian people. Our goodwill, geography, and restraint have too often been treated as entitlements rather than privileges.
We have been repeatedly leveraged and sidelined by powerful external and internal actors alike. Some Residence of and exclusive residential enclaves, in the west, operate as though national rules are optional. The cruise industry extracts billions in value while resisting proportional contribution. Foreign aviation authorities dictate airspace behavior that affects Bahamian sovereignty. International shipping uses Bahamian waters as a free shortcut to feed the United States and Europe, imposing environmental and security risks without commensurate compensation.
Our seas are among the most productive fishing grounds in the Atlantic, yet species such as Atlantic mackerel and yellowfin tuna are harvested to supply global markets with limited benefit returning to the country whose ecosystem sustains them. Marine exploration proceeds under the banner of “research,” while value, scientific, commercial, and pharmaceutical, is exported abroad. Even sand theft and seabed exploitation persist as under-enforced realities.
A current example underscores the stakes. Rare Bahamian marine sediments yielded the discovery of Bahamaolide A, a complex polyketide molecule with potential applications in treating disease and infection. The breakthrough, published after five years of intensive research, demonstrates that The Bahamas is not merely a backdrop for global science, but a source of irreplaceable biological and chemical value. Yet without firm regulatory control, such discoveries risk becoming another chapter in the long history of extraction without equitable return.
This is the broader context in which maritime fees, AIS monitoring, and structured access must be understood. These measures are not punitive, reactionary, or anti-visitor. They are corrective. They reflect a nation moving, belatedly but necessarily, from passive tolerance to active stewardship.
Sovereignty is not rhetoric. It is exercised through law, enforcement, data, and fair contribution. Any party that genuinely respects The Bahamas must also respect its right to govern, protect, and benefit from what is indisputably its own.
AIS (Automated Identification System) Is Now Required - Everywhere
The biggest universal change? All vessels above 50 ft must have their AIS (Automated Identification System) on at all times while in Bahamian waters. That includes when you’re docked, underway, or just passing through. Miss this requirement and you could be looking at a $1,000 fine. So, double-check that your AIS is installed, working, and transmitting before you enter Bahamian territory. Owners without AIS equipment will have to retrofit vessels to comply.
Cruise the Bahamas Often? The New FDCC Might Be for You Regulation 89B has been inserted into the principal regulations in the new bill, stating that the comptroller may issue a Frequent Digital Cruising Card (FDCC) when an application is submitted and processed under regulations 90, 91(3), (5) and (6), 91B and 92. Think of it as a fast pass for pleasure vessels. Once approved, the FDCC allows unlimited entries over a two-year period. You’ll still need to report to Customs on arrival, but you’ll be issued a Pleasure Craft Request (PCR) number to streamline future visits.
-
FDCC Fees (valid for 2 years from issuance date):
* Boats not exceeding 50 feet: $1,500 * Boats exceeding 50 feet but not exceeding 100 feet: $2,500 * Exceeding 100 feet: $8,000
This does not cover payable custom fees such as Attendance & Travel Expenses or overtime and travel with regard to the attendance of an Immigration Officer.
Assume a 55–65 ft motor yacht, average burn 60–80 gallons/hour at cruise.
Bahamas (Miami → Bimini round trip)
Time: ~4 hours total
Fuel burned: ~240–320 gallons
Fuel cost (@ $5.50/gal): $1,300–$1,760
US Virgin Islands (Miami → St. Thomas one way)
Time: ~44 hours
Fuel burned: ~2,600–3,500 gallons
Fuel cost: $14,300–$19,250 (one way)
This is not close. The fuel delta alone dwarfs any Bahamas permit fee.
- People like Peter Maury came up in the '80s drug running days' so a AIS (Automated Identification System) would be see as "cumbersome regulatory processes" - so Chester should be mindful of what is motivating Peter's advocacy. ;)
IslandWarrior says...
The Government is negligent when it allows known hazards to persist, ignores repeated warnings, and then acts surprised when the next family is shattered. This death should be treated for what it is: an indictment of governance, enforcement, and accountability in The Bahamas. If nothing changes after this—if the same violations continue, the same weak controls continue, the same silence continues—then the next fatality will not be “unfortunate.” It will be Government-enabled.
-
*My condolences to the Hepburn family - "Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un" (Indeed, to Allah we belong and to Him we shall return)*
On Father of five killed on pedestrian crossing
Posted 7 January 2026, 3:31 p.m. Suggest removal
IslandWarrior says...
> This story should shake the conscience
> of this country.
If a Bahamian family can walk into a public hospital ward and find their loved one cold and lifeless—while staff are allegedly unaware—then we are not dealing with an isolated mishap. We are looking at a national failure that has been normalised for far too long. And yes, every Bahamian carries a share of responsibility, because we have tolerated this decline, excused it, voted through it, and learned to live around it as if it is inevitable.
This is exactly the kind of issue that should determine who is fit to govern The Bahamas. Not slogans. Not photo-ops. Not party colours. Governance is a basic duty: protect life, ensure competent public service, and enforce accountability when institutions fail. Princess Margaret Hospital is not a new tragedy. It has a long record of public complaints, trauma, and families left holding grief instead of answers.
I say that personally—not theoretically. My first experience with PMH, what was described as medical negligence, was during a tonsil operation at age 18. I was sent home and bled out a third of my blood. I then spent the next three months in the private ward recovering and being treated for a blood infection. That was 1981. And I thank God for my mother, who found me in my bed covered in my own blood. So when people speak about PMH as if this breakdown is recent, or as if it is “just a bad week,” I reject that. This has been allowed to fester for decades.
This is not something we should be debating as gossip or consuming as headlines. It is a moral and civic reckoning. A country that cannot protect its people at their most vulnerable point—sick, admitted, dependent—has no business congratulating itself on progress. If we want a Bahamas worthy of our children, then the standard cannot be “hope you don’t end up in PMH.” The standard must be competence, dignity, transparency, and consequences when negligence is alleged—every time, without exception.
***'Watch Da Road' ... the ride on Bahamians is real.***
On Family finds mom dead in PMH ward
Posted 5 January 2026, 10:07 a.m. Suggest removal
IslandWarrior says...
No. You are dragging a completely different argument into the room, and you are doing it the laziest way possible: by smearing an entire people with a racial label, then pretending your smear is “analysis.”
The subject here is simple: US entry is getting harder for Bahamians. That is a policy and enforcement question, documents, scrutiny, interviews, discretion at ports of entry, changing rules, shifting posture. Your “white man this, white man that” rant is not an answer to any of that. It is a deflection designed to hijack the conversation and make it about your personal grievance.
And “Do you see any white Bahamians at Independence celebrations?” is not evidence of anything. It is a sloppy anecdote dressed up as proof, and it ignores an obvious fact: national celebrations are not colour-coded events. People attend what they choose to attend, for their own reasons, across decades, across families, across communities. If you want to claim exclusion, then present something concrete - names, incidents, dates, actions, not a vague sweeping accusation.
Now, since you insisted on race: stop confusing push-back against entitlement with “racism.” Many so-called “white foreigners” walk into small countries expecting the ground to move for them, expecting special treatment, fast-tracked access, and social deference, then when they meet normal resistance, normal rules, normal “no,” they call it racism. That is not a principled stand. That is a tactic. And Bahamians do not exist to perform gratitude or submission for anyone’s skin tone, passport, or bank account.
If you want to talk honestly, then say it plainly: you are upset that Bahamians talk about jobs, work permits, and who benefits from the economy. That debate happens in every country on earth, including the United States, often far more harshly than anything said in The Bahamas. But you don’t get to repaint every economic and immigration dispute as “Bahamians hate white people” just because you dislike hearing Bahamians defend their own labour and their own dignity.
So keep the discussion where it belongs: on US access, border discretion, and the reality of tightening entry, not on race-baiting speeches that insult Bahamians as a whole while demanding to be taken seriously. If you want a serious conversation, bring facts and specifics. If all you have is sweeping racial contempt disguised as moral outrage, then you are contributing to the very problem you claim to condemn.
"Watch Da Road" and if you dont like the Bahamas, find somewhere else to live.
On Mitchell warns us entry rules becoming ‘unforgiving’
Posted 30 December 2025, 4:42 p.m. Suggest removal
IslandWarrior says...
**You wrote: “screw the people that positively impact the Bahamian economy.” That is pure propaganda language, broad, emotional, and deliberately vague, because the moment you get specific, the argument collapses.**
So let’s get specific. Who are these “people”? The ones who benefit from Bahamian stability, Bahamian protection, Bahamian waters, Bahamian infrastructure, Bahamian emergency response, and Bahamian environmental management, then rage when the bill comes due?
Because this is what your comment actually says: “Keep The Bahamas cheap, keep it lenient, keep it easy to exploit, and don’t you dare enforce rules that inconvenience us.” Then you call the country “stupid” for exercising sovereignty.
No. The damage was not caused by fees. The damage is caused by decades of outsiders acting like The Bahamas must compete by discounting itself, discounting its waters, discounting its rules, discounting its dignity. A serious country does not run on begging and appeasement. It runs on enforcement, fair pricing, and respect for jurisdiction.
So I will ask you again, clearly: **who are these “life-giving people”? Name them. And if your answer is “the ones who leave when they can’t get special treatment,”** then congratulations, you just described exactly why the Bahamas must regulate harder, not softer. @Chester @sovereignty @dont_backdown @Bahamas
On Marinas fear $25m hit as yacht show is cancelled
Posted 24 December 2025, 12:28 p.m. Suggest removal
IslandWarrior says...
The core point is simple: Bahamian households are paying up to **$18 per pound** for seafood, in our own country, while visiting vessels can pay a small, renewable permit fee ($100-$300) and then remove hundreds and thousands of pounds of value from the same waters. That is not “tourism”; it is extraction dressed up as leisure. A flat permit structure might look harmless on paper, but in practice it rewards capacity: the larger the boat, the more range, storage, and poundage it can take, yet the fee remains trivial compared to the market value of what is being removed. The end result is predictable: locals pay premium prices, while outsiders enjoy discounted access to the resource and leave Bahamians to carry the scarcity, the monitoring burden, and the long-term depletion risk.
-
So when a figure like Peter advocates that boaters should “not come” because The Bahamas is tightening controls, I do not treat that as principled advocacy. I treat it as pressure to keep Bahamian waters cheap and easy to work. If your business model depends on minimal fees, minimal visibility, and minimal accountability, then the problem is not Bahamian policy, the problem is the model. Bahamians are not obligated to subsidize anyone’s private seafood supply chain while we pay up to $18 per pound at home.
-
'Watch da road'. @Chester.
On Marinas fear $25m hit as yacht show is cancelled
Posted 24 December 2025, 9:03 a.m. Suggest removal
IslandWarrior says...
**Again, be careful about the motivation driving the advocacy.**
In 2017, the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation pushed public attention onto a problem that The Bahamas cannot afford to ignore: a material share of fishing pressure is routinely hidden behind “tourism” and “recreational” cover stories, while the economic upside is extracted and the ecological cost is left behind. Dr. Nicola Smith’s catch-reconstruction work demonstrated that what is officially reported can understate what is actually being taken—driven heavily by tourism demand and non-traditional channels that do not show up cleanly in standard reporting. (c) Pew Charitable Trusts
Now apply that reality to what many Bahamians see on the water: so-called “charter” operations and visiting vessels that clear as pleasure craft or tourist excursions, but behave like commercial operators—running repeated trips, landing volume, and feeding supply chains that are not transparent to the public. This is not hypothetical. Bahamian reporting in 2025 describes illegal charter fishing as “much larger than people think,” and documents arrests and vessel seizures tied to illegal commercial fishing and charter operations. (c) The Tribune
That is why visibility requirements matter. If a foreign vessel is over 50 feet, The Bahamas requires AIS to remain active at all times while in Bahamian waters, and non-compliance triggers penalties.
**The Islands of The Bahamas**
When people claim AIS is “the problem,” and then choose not to come, or choose to operate in ways that avoid tracking, do not treat that as an innocent inconvenience. Treat it as a signal: some activity depends on low visibility, weak monitoring, and the ability to work the gaps in enforcement.
The Bahamas is not obligated to subsidize that behaviour with its reefs, fisheries, and sovereignty.
Documentary reference (Vimeo link you can share):
https://vimeo.com/250664113
'Watch da road'. @Chester.
On Marinas fear $25m hit as yacht show is cancelled
Posted 24 December 2025, 8:40 a.m. Suggest removal
IslandWarrior says...
**A Message For All Who Say "we can go somewhere else" - I say Go!, But before you go, make sure you do your maths:**
Fuel Cost Comparison (Mid-Size Yacht Benchmark)
Assume a 55–65 ft motor yacht, average burn 60–80 gallons/hour at cruise.
**Bahamas (Miami → Bimini round trip)**
Time: ~4 hours total
Fuel burned: ~240–320 gallons
Fuel cost (@ $5.50/gal): $1,300–$1,760
**US Virgin Islands (Miami → St. Thomas one way)**
Time: ~44 hours
Fuel burned: ~2,600–3,500 gallons
Fuel cost: $14,300–$19,250 (one way)
This is not close. The fuel delta alone dwarfs any Bahamas permit fee.
On Gov’t boating fee review: ‘We start over yet again’
Posted 23 December 2025, 8:02 p.m. Suggest removal
IslandWarrior says...
**A nation that cannot regulate, monitor, and fairly charge for the use of its territory, land or sea, is not exercising sovereignty; it is surrendering it.**
The FDCC and AIS requirements represent a rational, internationally aligned step toward protecting Bahamian interests while continuing to welcome legitimate visitors who respect the jurisdiction they enjoy. Regulation is not exclusion. It is the lawful assertion of control over national space, resources, and responsibility.
Those who benefit most from The Bahamas should, at a minimum, contribute to its protection, management, and sustainability. For decades, this balance has been skewed against the Bahamian people. Our goodwill, geography, and restraint have too often been treated as entitlements rather than privileges.
We have been repeatedly leveraged and sidelined by powerful external and internal actors alike. Some Residence of and exclusive residential enclaves, in the west, operate as though national rules are optional. The cruise industry extracts billions in value while resisting proportional contribution. Foreign aviation authorities dictate airspace behavior that affects Bahamian sovereignty. International shipping uses Bahamian waters as a free shortcut to feed the United States and Europe, imposing environmental and security risks without commensurate compensation.
Our seas are among the most productive fishing grounds in the Atlantic, yet species such as Atlantic mackerel and yellowfin tuna are harvested to supply global markets with limited benefit returning to the country whose ecosystem sustains them. Marine exploration proceeds under the banner of “research,” while value, scientific, commercial, and pharmaceutical, is exported abroad. Even sand theft and seabed exploitation persist as under-enforced realities.
A current example underscores the stakes. Rare Bahamian marine sediments yielded the discovery of Bahamaolide A, a complex polyketide molecule with potential applications in treating disease and infection. The breakthrough, published after five years of intensive research, demonstrates that The Bahamas is not merely a backdrop for global science, but a source of irreplaceable biological and chemical value. Yet without firm regulatory control, such discoveries risk becoming another chapter in the long history of extraction without equitable return.
This is the broader context in which maritime fees, AIS monitoring, and structured access must be understood. These measures are not punitive, reactionary, or anti-visitor. They are corrective. They reflect a nation moving, belatedly but necessarily, from passive tolerance to active stewardship.
Sovereignty is not rhetoric. It is exercised through law, enforcement, data, and fair contribution. Any party that genuinely respects The Bahamas must also respect its right to govern, protect, and benefit from what is indisputably its own.
On Gov’t boating fee review: ‘We start over yet again’
Posted 23 December 2025, 7:58 p.m. Suggest removal
IslandWarrior says...
**A nation that cannot regulate, monitor, and fairly charge for the use of its territory, land or sea, is not exercising sovereignty; it is surrendering it.**
The FDCC and AIS requirements represent a rational, internationally aligned step toward protecting Bahamian interests while continuing to welcome legitimate visitors who respect the jurisdiction they enjoy. Regulation is not exclusion. It is the lawful assertion of control over national space, resources, and responsibility.
Those who benefit most from The Bahamas should, at a minimum, contribute to its protection, management, and sustainability. For decades, this balance has been skewed against the Bahamian people. Our goodwill, geography, and restraint have too often been treated as entitlements rather than privileges.
We have been repeatedly leveraged and sidelined by powerful external and internal actors alike. Some Residence of and exclusive residential enclaves, in the west, operate as though national rules are optional. The cruise industry extracts billions in value while resisting proportional contribution. Foreign aviation authorities dictate airspace behavior that affects Bahamian sovereignty. International shipping uses Bahamian waters as a free shortcut to feed the United States and Europe, imposing environmental and security risks without commensurate compensation.
Our seas are among the most productive fishing grounds in the Atlantic, yet species such as Atlantic mackerel and yellowfin tuna are harvested to supply global markets with limited benefit returning to the country whose ecosystem sustains them. Marine exploration proceeds under the banner of “research,” while value, scientific, commercial, and pharmaceutical, is exported abroad. Even sand theft and seabed exploitation persist as under-enforced realities.
A current example underscores the stakes. Rare Bahamian marine sediments yielded the discovery of Bahamaolide A, a complex polyketide molecule with potential applications in treating disease and infection. The breakthrough, published after five years of intensive research, demonstrates that The Bahamas is not merely a backdrop for global science, but a source of irreplaceable biological and chemical value. Yet without firm regulatory control, such discoveries risk becoming another chapter in the long history of extraction without equitable return.
This is the broader context in which maritime fees, AIS monitoring, and structured access must be understood. These measures are not punitive, reactionary, or anti-visitor. They are corrective. They reflect a nation moving, belatedly but necessarily, from passive tolerance to active stewardship.
Sovereignty is not rhetoric. It is exercised through law, enforcement, data, and fair contribution. Any party that genuinely respects The Bahamas must also respect its right to govern, protect, and benefit from what is indisputably its own.
On Marinas fear $25m hit as yacht show is cancelled
Posted 23 December 2025, 7:52 p.m. Suggest removal
IslandWarrior says...
Here is what Peter Maury is not saying:
-
AIS (Automated Identification System) Is Now Required - Everywhere
The biggest universal change? All vessels above 50 ft must have their AIS (Automated Identification System) on at all times while in Bahamian waters. That includes when you’re docked, underway, or just passing through. Miss this requirement and you could be looking at a $1,000 fine. So, double-check that your AIS is installed, working, and transmitting before you enter Bahamian territory. Owners without AIS equipment will have to retrofit vessels to comply.
Cruise the Bahamas Often? The New FDCC Might Be for You
Regulation 89B has been inserted into the principal regulations in the new bill, stating that the comptroller may issue a Frequent Digital Cruising Card (FDCC) when an application is submitted and processed under regulations 90, 91(3), (5) and (6), 91B and 92. Think of it as a fast pass for pleasure vessels. Once approved, the FDCC allows unlimited entries over a two-year period. You’ll still need to report to Customs on arrival, but you’ll be issued a Pleasure Craft Request (PCR) number to streamline future visits.
-
FDCC Fees (valid for 2 years from issuance date):
* Boats not exceeding 50 feet: $1,500
* Boats exceeding 50 feet but not exceeding 100 feet: $2,500
* Exceeding 100 feet: $8,000
This does not cover payable custom fees such as Attendance & Travel Expenses or overtime and travel with regard to the attendance of an Immigration Officer.
-
*** Fuel Cost Comparison (Mid-Size Yacht Benchmark) ***
Assume a 55–65 ft motor yacht, average burn 60–80 gallons/hour at cruise.
Bahamas (Miami → Bimini round trip)
Time: ~4 hours total
Fuel burned: ~240–320 gallons
Fuel cost (@ $5.50/gal): $1,300–$1,760
US Virgin Islands (Miami → St. Thomas one way)
Time: ~44 hours
Fuel burned: ~2,600–3,500 gallons
Fuel cost: $14,300–$19,250 (one way)
This is not close. The fuel delta alone dwarfs any Bahamas permit fee.
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People like Peter Maury came up in the '80s drug running days' so a AIS (Automated Identification System) would be see as "cumbersome regulatory processes" - so Chester should be mindful of what is motivating Peter's advocacy. ;)
*Watch Da Road*
On Marinas fear $25m hit as yacht show is cancelled
Posted 23 December 2025, 2:36 p.m. Suggest removal