The Moorings optimistic of resolving compliance issues in 1 or 2 weeks- Peter Cochran
This was disclosed by Vice-President of Operations Mr Peter Cochran during a press conference called by the Government of the Virgin Islands on March 18, 2022, and included Premier and Minister of Finance, Hon Andrew A. Fahie (R1); Commissioner of Her Majesty’s Customs, Wade N. Smith; and Director of Virgin Islands Shipping Registry, John M. Samuel.
Supply line issues among The Moorings’ challenges
Asked why The Moorings found itself facing issues of non-compliance, Mr Cochran said the company has a very large fleet but there was the expectation that it would have been able to expedite the process for compliance but were hit with some supply line issues regarding additional equipment necessary.
He also said the paperwork element of compliance has also been challenging. “We have a fleet of owners that obviously have to supply documentation and that has been more time-consuming itself.”
Mr Cochran said additionally The Moorings had “a very quiet period” over the course of the last two years and so there were some financing challenges involved.
“And then we had Omicron for a period which basically, at The Moorings itself, took out a high degree of staff and we were going back into a high season…”
The Moorings expects to be in compliance in a week or 2- Cochran
He said The Moorings was not to be blamed for the lack of trying to become fully compliant but was pleased to say it expects to get itself in order in the next week or two.
Mr Cochran said The Moorings and the relevant authorities have more recently been in communication to alleviate the problem going forward and the company now has a sound understanding of how to proceed. “And we look forward to that and solve this problem with immediacy.”
Mr Cochran did not disclose how many customers have been affected by the crackdown but said it was a “big number” but it was reducing as more vessels become compliant.
Government in a statement on March 17, 2022, said it had been working closely with charter companies for several months on a number of matters to ensure compliance and the health and safety of the users of the charters.
It added that ignoring the issues could see the territory being labeled as an unsafe destination.
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19 Responses to “The Moorings optimistic of resolving compliance issues in 1 or 2 weeks- Peter Cochran”
No matter what they do , the customs and its leader continue to harass boaters and charter companies. Is it necessary to go mob handed with machine guns at 5 in the morning because a smoke detector may be missing from a yacht? Of course it isn't. Its about power and revenge.
When 300 or so boats move out , which is going to happen for sure unless customs gets a new leader and a new attitude , the loss over a 40 week season will be $120 million.
That is more than 10% of the GDP of the BVI.
That means on average that everyone in the BVI will be 10% worse off.
Roll on the result of the COI and hopefully reform of the out of control customs.