Got TIPS or BREAKING NEWS? Please call 1-284-442-8000 direct/can also WhatsApp same number or Email ALL news to:newsvino@outlook.com;                               ads call 1-284-440-6666

New Merchant Shipping Act to be ‘localised’- Ishma Rhymer

- as Merchant Shipping Act 2001 likely to be repealed in its entirety
The new Merchant Shipping Act is expected to cover the four principal subject areas of maritime regulatory laws including regulation of merchant shipping, regulation of fishing vessel safety, wreck and salvage, and measures to protect the marine environment. Photo: VINO/File
The Government of the Virgin Islands, acting through the Attorney General’s Chambers, is inviting qualified, professional, experienced, and resourceful candidates to submit Expressions of Interest to create a specialist panel to provide legislative drafting services for the comprehensive review of the maritime laws of the [British] Virgin Islands. Photo: GIS
The Government of the Virgin Islands, acting through the Attorney General’s Chambers, is inviting qualified, professional, experienced, and resourceful candidates to submit Expressions of Interest to create a specialist panel to provide legislative drafting services for the comprehensive review of the maritime laws of the [British] Virgin Islands. Photo: GIS
ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI- The Government of the Virgin Islands, acting through the Attorney General’s Chambers, is inviting qualified, professional, experienced, and resourceful candidates to submit Expressions of Interest to create a specialist panel to provide legislative drafting services for the comprehensive review of the maritime laws of the [British] Virgin Islands.

The primary objective of this undertaking is to create a Legislative Drafting Maritime Panel consisting of individuals who can efficiently and effectively provide the required legal drafting services to the Government to draft the primary and subsidiary legislation required to give effect to the review of the British Virgin Islands’ maritime laws, to undertake peer review of drafts produced by other drafters as part of the Project and to liaise with them on their projects where appropriate.

According to a press release from Government Information Services (GIS) on September 7, 2022, candidates must be a qualified Solicitor, Barrister or Attorney-at-Law, be able to demonstrate an advanced level of the English language, have an ability to assimilate complex facts quickly, be able to exercise sound judgment, and preferably possess a diploma or Master of Laws in legislative drafting.

Maritime legislation to be ‘localised’

Procurement Coordinator, Mrs Ishma Rhymer said, “The aim of the Project is to consolidate and localise this legislation, as far as is possible, into local BVI laws”, adding that, “The intention is that the Merchant Shipping Act 2001 should be repealed in its entirety and replaced by a new ‘Merchant Shipping’ Act.”

This Act, according to the GIS press release, would cover the four principal subject areas of maritime regulatory laws including regulation of merchant shipping, regulation of fishing vessel safety, wreck and salvage, and measures to protect the marine environment.

Legislative drafting services being solicited

Electronic submissions in a non-editable format not exceeding 10MB should be sent to the Procurement Coordinator at email address procurement@gov.vg. The filename and the email subject must bear the applicant’s name and “EOI for Legislative Drafting Services (Maritime Panel) for BVI”.

Expressions of Interest must be submitted no later than Monday, September 26, 2022, at 12:00 noon. Expression of Interest submitted after this time will not be considered and will be rejected, the press release stated.

Submissions will be opened on Tuesday, September 27, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. Bidders who wish to witness the opening process may request the WebEx access code and password from the Procurement Coordinator at procurement@gov.vg with subject “EOI for Legislative Drafting Services (Maritime Panel) for BVI” by noon on Monday, September 26, 2022.

10 Responses to “New Merchant Shipping Act to be ‘localised’- Ishma Rhymer”

  • W*F (08/09/2022, 09:12) Like (15) Dislike (0) Reply
    Another attack on our marine industry. Will they be involved or consulted properly or will this new policy and law be generated in isolation as usual? Why do we need to reform this law? What doesn't work about it? It is based on UK law, which insurers, lenders, and foreign shipping jurisdictions respect as safe. What is wrong with it? How much money taxpayer is being spent on this? Are the schools and the sewers fixed yet?
    • Correct (08/09/2022, 10:43) Like (10) Dislike (0) Reply
      You hit the nail on the head . Maritime is Global and the laws are constructed to meet intenational standards well established and working for centuries. This sounds like ballyhoo non-sense from people seeking self agrandisement and self interests protections
  • Dave (08/09/2022, 10:01) Like (10) Dislike (0) Reply
    Our Merchant Shipping Act is a chopped down version of the UK one. It is the oldest most tested and proven maritime legislation in the world. What are we seeking to change? What is the benefit to the people?
  • John (08/09/2022, 10:05) Like (6) Dislike (0) Reply
    According to the Cabinet Statements from November, the taxpayer has already allocated $800,000USD!!! to this project, and they expect another $400,000USD to come from grant and private sector donations. Insanity.
  • My input.. (08/09/2022, 12:11) Like (7) Dislike (1) Reply
    Properly trained and certified uniform security must be present and visible at all Ports, not one but the proper ratio AMT.. 2/ That Port security officials with the rank of manager or above have the legal authority as a custom officer to search any vessel that shows enough suspicion to require such search and to hold or pound such vessel if any illegal activity is found connected to such vessel and prosecute..
  • Water Safety Please! (08/09/2022, 12:12) Like (1) Dislike (1) Reply
    The Merchant Shipping Act is the place that Water Safety Enforcement is put in place...This needs a major overhaul.
    Right now, Marine Police can not write on the water tickets for violations (including when people are run over by power boats and killed). YES, that's right. You can run over someone in your boat in the BVI and kill them and not even get a ticket!
    There are too many cowboys in over-powered boats not following the rules. There will be no way to correct this if there is no enforcement. The BVI needs to pay attention to this and put enforcement in place (must include fines and imprisonment and not just slaps on the wrist).
    All we need is for the BVI to follow the international rules of the road - this is already in place all over the world. This needs to include no-wake zone enforcement in mooring fields and anchorages (that's where the tourists deaths are happening).
  • Master Mariner (08/09/2022, 12:42) Like (3) Dislike (4) Reply
    It is quite easy to criticise an action when one is not aware of the underlying causes which prompted this decision to repeal the BVI's Merchant Shipping Act. Although it's structure is similar to that of the UK's MSA, the departments which are assigned resposnsibilities in the Act do not match in both nations. In that case there is bound to be duplication of responsibilities which lead to conflict and contradiction. The BVI as a seafaring nation, is required by the International Maritime Organisation to have certain obligations in place for compliance with international laws. A review of the current Act will show that due to a series of amendments, some sections contradict others and l am sure the AG's chambers have carefully considered this situation and opted to repeal and replace the current Act. Let's give the AG chambers and the Shipping Registry a break and not read too much into the decision to repeal the current MSA.
  • Insanity (08/09/2022, 12:54) Like (8) Dislike (0) Reply
    The more we change the more things remain the same.
    Under the NDP government, Mark Vanterpool I think it was proposed getting rid of the Law reform commission which is needed in particularly every country to keep updating existing laws and creating new ones. At the time they had town hall meetings and GIS interviews with the commissioner to inform the public about new legislation and I recall you could have submitted ideas as well which at the time was very remarkable. But when they announced they were getting rid of the department I said we are surely going back as a nation.
    That is why in 2022 the bvi is still using a criminal code, commission of inquiry act 1800, immigrants housed at Castle marina, accused on remand for years, trials for simple traffic violations instead of tickets, no stenographers in magistrate courts, magistrate still take evidence in a diary, bvi still apart of the the ECSC instead of a BVI Law Court, similar to Cayman and Burmuda, the backwardness continues.
    If we had a commission in place the maritime laws would have been updated and codified as required instead of this expensive haphazard exercise.
    During this difficult living cost crisis those funds should have gone towards helping families in need.
  • MSA 2001 (08/09/2022, 16:59) Like (0) Dislike (2) Reply
    is simply a copy of the UK's MSA 1995 with the words 'Virgin Islands' replacing the words 'United Kingdom.' The UK updates the MSA every 20-30 years so just wait until the 1995 UK law is updated by the UK in the next few years. No need to waste more tax payers money to reinvent the wheel.


Create a comment


Create a comment

Disclaimer: Virgin Islands News Online (VINO) welcomes your thoughts, feedback, views, bloggs and opinions. However, by posting a blogg you are agreeing to post comments or bloggs that are relevant to the topic, and that are not defamatory, liable, obscene, racist, abusive, sexist, anti-Semitic, threatening, hateful or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be excluded permanently from making contributions. Please view our declaimer above this article. We thank you in advance for complying with VINO's policy.

Follow Us On

Disclaimer: All comments posted on Virgin Islands News Online (VINO) are the sole views and opinions of the commentators and or bloggers and do not in anyway represent the views and opinions of the Board of Directors, Management and Staff of Virgin Islands News Online and its parent company.