The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

TRIBUNE Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

MARINAS are warning that “real harm” could result from a seemingly new policy where Customs officers have been told a Bahamas Maritime Authority (BMA) registration is not enough for high-end mega yachts to clear into this nation.

The Association of Bahamas Marinas (ABM), in an October 6, 2026, letter to Captain Dwain Hutchinson, the BMA’s managing director and chief executive, alleged that Port Department officials had “instructed” Customs to adopt this stance where yachts already flying the Bahamian flag now have to obtain a separate “local” registration or licence to enter the country.

Asserting that it had been informed of several such “incidents” occurring at ports of entry in Nassau, Abaco and Bimini, the ABM sounded the alarm that this will impact “the integrity of The Bahamas’ yacht registry” by penalising owners who select this nation’s flag while also driving them to other registries. Calling on the BMA to intervene, the Association said the situation threatens to cause further confusion and disruption for The Bahamas’ boating market.

However, Captain Carlon Bethel, the Port Department’s newly-appointed controller, told Tribune Business he was unaware of any such “incidents” and added that neither the Association nor its member marinas had approached the maritime regulator over their concerns.

Calling on the marinas to provide specific evidence, including vessel names; the date, time and location of any clearance woes experienced by Bahamas-flagged super yachts; and the names of Customs and Port Department officials involved, Captain Bethel described the ABM’s worries as “brand new” which made it difficult to respond.

Pledging to contact Captain Hutchinson to ensure any issues are addressed, he suggested that the only situation where challenges may have occurred was if Bahamas-flagged yachts, registered with the BMA, planned to conduct charters in Bahamian waters but were unaware of the legal requirement to pay the 14 percent fee and obtain the necessary permits.

Ralph Munroe, Bahamas Customs comptroller, also said “the issue seems to revolve around” whether a Bahamian-flagged yacht’s beneficial owner is foreign. He reiterated that, even if it is flying the Bahamian flag, a foreign-owned boat cannot provide charter services without paying due fees and complying with local laws and regulations.

Peter Maury, the ABM’s president, in the Association’s letter to Captain Hutchinson, wrote: “Our member marinas report that Bahamas Customs officers at ports of entry have been instructed by the Port Department not to accept a Bahamas Maritime Authority yacht registration as valid registration when vessels clear into the country.

“Owners and captains presenting the current BMA certificate of registry are being told it is insufficient, and in some cases are being directed to obtain a separate Port Department registration or local licence before clearance can be completed. We understand this has occurred at ports of entry, for example, Nassau, Bimini, Marsh Harbour, and have been made aware of incidents involving a few vessels.”

Warning that this “is causing real harm”, and could undermine “the integrity of The Bahamas’ yacht registry itself”, Mr Maury cited what the ABM sees as potential consequences. “Owners who chose the Bahamian flag are being penalised for it,” he argued.

“Yachts registered with the BMA under the Merchant Shipping Act are vessels of The Bahamas. Refusing that registration at our own border places these owners in a worse position than foreign-flagged visitors.

“The registry's reputation is at risk,” the ABM president added. “The BMA actively promotes The Bahamas flag to yacht owners internationally. Word that the registration is not recognised by our own Customs officers will travel quickly through the brokerage and captain community, and will discourage new registrations.

“Officers on the ground are left in an impossible position. Customs officers are receiving guidance that conflicts with the national registry, and captains receive different answers at different ports.”

Mr Maury urged the BMA to contact the Port Department and Bahamas Customs “to confirm that a valid BMA certificate of registry is accepted as proof of registration for clearance purposes”. It also called on the agencies to issue written guidance to all Customs officers, and “withdraw any conflicting instruction, and for them to meet with the ABM and Bahamas Yacht Brokers Association to the latter “can share what our members are seeing”.

However, Captain Bethel told this newspaper that without more hard evidence “I cannot tell you what’s happening” with the situation described by the ABM and its marinas. He promised, though, to “reach out” to Captain Hutchinson and the London-headquartered BMA while calling on the marina industry to bring any concerns to himself and the Port Department.

“The marinas ain’t never spoken to us. This is brand new,” he said. “I don’t know which one of my representatives told Customs that [Bahamas-flagged] super yachts cannot use their registration for clearance. Foreign vessels doing charters have to come to us for a foreign charter licence, and I’m hoping there is no confusion there.

“I’m not aware of these incidents and also, for the record, registered vessels, if you are coming in as pleasure craft to cruise, Customs deals with that.” Captain Bethel clarified that cruising permits are required only by foreign-flagged pleasure vessels, not those titled locally with a Bahamas port and numbers or carrying this nation’s flag under the BMA’s registry.

However, he added that BMA registration does not exempt a vessel’s passengers or cargo from having to go through official entry clearance via Customs and Immigration at a designated port of entry. And, if entering The Bahamas for commercial use, such as to conduct charters, it must pay the necessary processing fees and taxes.

Speaking to what he views as the likeliest explanation for the marina industry’s concerns, Captain Bethel said: “It only becomes an issue when these vessels are chartering. Maybe that was the case, and our representatives told them that, yes, you are registered under the BMA, but you are conducting a charter and that cannot happen without getting a charter licence. That’s the only situation in my mind.”

Calling on the ABM and marinas to provide evidence to back up their concerns, the Port Department chief added: “It’s a ‘you say, I say, he and she say’ kind of thing. I ain’t into that. It’s not the way I operate. I am a creature of the Government.

“I believe that revenues.. I think we we are the third biggest revenue generator in the country. I don’t want to see that jeopardised over misunderstandings or misinformation. That’s where I’m at. If there’s someone in port, or there is a vessel in port, that can verify those claims…. I can only tell you what the law is.”

Similarly, Mr Munroe told Tribune Business he could recall discussions over whether a Bahamian-flagged yacht or other vessel also needs to be registered here. “The issue seemed to revolve around ownership; whether the ownership of the vessel was Bahamian or foreign,” he said.

“A vessel bearing the Bahamian flag, if it was foreign owned, even if under the Bahamian flag it is not able to engage in charter services in The Bahamas [without the required fees and permit]. That was the crux of the matter; the ownership of the vessel. It must be Bahamian owned.”

Mr Maury, meanwhile, said the BMA had already responded to the Association’s letter and informed him that it is “going to have a meeting with Customs and the Port Department to find out what’s going on”. The ABM president said he had recently experienced the situation involving the clearance of BMA-registered vessels at his own Bay Street Marina, while other operators had informed him they have “run into it a couple of times”.

Asserting it is vital that any confusion is resolved ahead of the upcoming winter boating season’s November/December start, and to support the Ministry of Tourism’s recently-launched campaign to attract more mega yachts to The Bahamas, Mr Maury said: “We are going to get busy again, and have more boats coming in, but this is just going to drive people away from registering with the BMA.

“The Mediterranean season is finishing, so we are hoping that as those boats come to the Caribbean they’ll stop in The Bahamas.” These vessels represent a lucrative source of high per capita visitor spending that boosts the Bahamian economy, but Mr Maury said: “Recently we have had several complaints where yachts registered under the BMA, the Port Department is saying they have to be registered with it as well.

“For someone to register a 140-foot yacht, they cannot register under just the Port Department. It doesn’t cover the size of the vessel, and the Port Department is more like a local registry. Those boats travel all over the world, go to other countries, which is why the BMA and Bahamas flag is accepted around the world.

“It makes no sense to say they have to be registered with the Port Department, which is like a local registry. The problem also is that the Port Department doesn’t register vessels that are not locally owned. To decline entry to BMA-registered vessels, it’s totally backwards. I don’t understand what’s going on. They are trying to make it harder and harder for people to come to The Bahamas. The BMA is a respected flag around the world. What are we even doing?”

Mr Maury said super yacht owners would be incentivised to switch their flag state to rival jurisdictions such as the Cayman Islands and Jamaica since they will now have an easier task of clearing into The Bahamas. “You have Bahamian brokers that do this for a living and they are going to lose clients,” he added. “This has no foundation, no legal foundation, because it’s not legislated.”