Some commercial boat operators are voicing concerns about fees to operate their boats.
Captain Chuckie Ebanks said he and some of fellow boat operators would like to see the yearly fee for the licensing of boats decreased so they become more affordable.
While he makes it clear that he is not complaining about having to pay the fees for acquiring a tourist boat licence, now necessary for commercial operators to visit Stingray City and the Sandbar under the Wildlife Interaction Zone regulations, he would like to see the annual boat licensing fee come down.
‘You have to be realistic with this type of thing for people to pay it,’ he said.
‘No one has paid this fee over the years because it has been too expensive along with all the other stuff we have to pay such as liability insurance, hull insurance, business licence and now the sandbar licence.
‘If we’ve got to pay all this we’ll have to put up our prices to tourists and we’ll drive them away. It will be too expensive for the cruise ships and we’ll out-price ourselves.’
The annual licensing fees are part of the Port Regulations.
Manager Cruise Operations and Security with the Port Authority Joseph Woods explained the licence fees were introduced a number of years ago, but it’s not something that has been rigorously enforced.
The fee, which is a government licensing fee, is collected by the Port Authority.
The annual fees for licensing were raised in an amendment to the Port Regulations, 2006, and now stand as follows: Local boats 18 feet and shorter are free; jet ski-boat used for private purposes is $200; jet ski-boat used for commercial purposes costs $400; boats and ships over 18 feet but not over 30 feet used for commercial purposes costs $300; boats and ships over 30 feet but not over 50 feet costs $670; ships over 50 feet costs $1,400.
When asked if an annual boat licence is needed in order to qualify for the special tourist boat licence now necessary to enter the Sandbar and Stingray City areas as a commercial operator, Director of the Department of Environment Gina Ebanks-Petrie said that while it is not a prerequisite contained in the Wildlife Interaction Zone regulations, it’s a proposed condition of the tourist boat licence.
The Marine Conservation Board is trying to have that process take place whereby boats get licensed, she said.
If people have a huge issue with paying their boat licence fees they need to make representations to the board, which meets again on the 13th of July, she said.
Mr. Woods said the whole issue of boat licensing is being addressed under a proposed law for the safety of vessels, which the government is reviewing.
The proposed law is a result of a working group that came together to address the issue of vessels in Cayman, Mr. Woods said. It was done as a multi agency effort led by the Port Authority.
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