When Hurricane Earl struck the Virgin Islands last August, dozens of boats were washed against the shore and wrecked.
Some were derelict vessels that had been abandoned long before the storm hit, and other boats were damaged when the storm hurled abandoned vessels into them. After the storm, Governor Boyd McCleary said his office would consider new legislation to rid the territory of such vessels.
Now, nearly a year later, derelict boats can still be found around Tortola, including at Baughers Bay, Sopers Hole and Beef Island.
But updated disaster management legislation that addresses the subject of derelict vessels is “in the final drafting stages,” according to Jenny Lock, acting head of the Governor’s Office. “It is hoped it can be brought into force this year,” Ms. Lock wrote in an e-mail.
Captain Baboucar Sallah, who is the director of the Virgin Islands Shipping Registry and the receiver of wreck, said his agency is also “developing a programme to deal with” derelict vessels outside the ports, like the ones near Beef Island.
Meanwhile, the BVI Ports Authority is actively working on the issue of boats in harbours, including at Baughers Bay and Sopers Hole, said Gene Creque, the BVIPA assistant managing director.
“Sometime soon we should be seeing some action taken toward the eventual removal,” he said. “With any luck at all, I’m hoping it will be during the summer.”
See the July 21, 2011 edition for full coverage.