Caribbean charter boat owners chafe at DHS regulation

There was standing room only at American Yacht Harbor on St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands last Tuesday night when more than 100 charter boat owners, operators, and captains attended a meeting to find answers about how to comply with new DHS passenger reporting regulations. DHS has begun enforcing the requirement that all passenger-carrying commercial vessels traveling between the United States and foreign waters transmit information about passengers and crew to DHS twenty-four hours before departure and return. Boat operators say this is an onerous burden, and that, in any event, many tourists visiting the USVI participate in trips to the BVI, or other islands not under U.S. jurisdiction.

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