SIMPSON BAY–Amidst outcry from St. Maarten Maritime Trade Association (SMMTA) that the new harbour and port fees implemented on January 1 are driving yachts away to less expensive destinations, a slight increase in the number of transiting boats entering the lagoon has been recorded for the first seven months of this year.
Simpson Bay Lagoon Authority Corporation (SLAC) reported this week that 8,504 vessels of varying sizes had visited the island from January to July, compared to 8,445 during the same period last year.
The figures suggest that the lagoon is becoming quite crowded, because no new marinas or berthing slips have been added in recent years, said SLAC Managing Director Russell Voges. Many times, especially during the season, larger vessels have had to anchor in Simpson Bay awaiting their turn to dock in a marina.
According to SLAC, a survey of businesses bordering the lagoon indicated that the last season was highly successful with annual sale growth in the double digits for most companies.
However, according to SMMTA, this coming season is already shaping up to be a bleak one with major marinas recording a 30 per cent drop in bookings – a development believed to be linked directly to the more than 300 per cent harbour/port fee increase. This drop, they predict, will ripple throughout the local economy affecting hundreds of jobs at marinas, restaurants and other businesses.
The new fees took effect on New Year’s Day and caught captains and owners unaware because no prior notice had been given and the increases had not been discussed with stakeholders.
SMMTA is outraged by the new fees that require vessels to pay a weekly fee even if they stay here for only one day. This reportedly has had a devastating impact on the charter yachting business.
In a full page advertisement, the association points out that stakeholders in the industry are angered not so much about the fee increase, but by the way in which it was implemented. “The fees were increased so suddenly, and without any advance notice to the yachting public, that many vessels returned to St. Maarten after a few days only to find massive increases.”
Further, “this has left many in the yachting industry feeling both understandably bitter and betrayed. Many vessels had no choice but to remain here for the rest of the season due to prior commitments, but the results are now plain for all to see with the current exodus of yachts of all sizes to French St. Martin, Antigua, or St. Thomas, whose fees are still less than half of those in St. Maarten.”
A reevaluation and thoughtful reappraisal of these fees is being called for with government and SLAC requested to consider the alternative fee proposal made by the association in April.
“We ask for a rational and fair implementation of fees across all marine industries and a rapid and sustained public relations effort to repair the damage already done to the last nine years of strong growth and investment on the island,” SMMTA said.
Source : The Daily Herald
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