Maritime Pact Could Bring $2.3 Billion to the USVI

Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. signed an agreement in Washington, D.C., Tuesday that could pave the way for unprecedented port improvements and long-term maritime industry jobs.

The memorandum of agreement with Massachusetts-based Northeast Maritime Institute seals a commitment to reshaping the seafaring industry in the United States, making the U.S. Virgin Islands the center of an international shipping fleet. Private investors could deposit $2.3 billion in port infrastructure to launch the project, said Eric R. Dawicki, the institute’s president and co-signer of the agreement at the National Press Club.

The resolution, called A Revitalization Plan for U.S. Maritime Trade Commerce and Strategic-Competition, is sixfold, beginning with creating an open registry in the Virgin Islands. This new flag state would allow foreign container, cruise, tanker, and other commercial vessels to register in the territory. Those ships, however, will be held to the highest safety, labor, and environmental standards, Dawicki said.

Currently, that market is dominated by Liberia, Panama, and the Marshall Islands. These so-called flag-of-convenience states are often criticized for lax oversight that could lead to labor abuses, irresponsible environmental policies, and opaque financial reporting rules favored by criminals, according to the report.

Dawicki and other maritime experts at the signing event said the new USVI ship registry won’t compete with perceived bad-actor countries that allow the ships under their purview to flout environmental, labor, and safety rules.

“The USVI flag will be defined by conscientiousness, not convenience,” he said. “World-leading standards will be implemented in quality, operational excellence, and sustainability.”

With just 0.4 percent of commercial ships registered in the United States, American sea trade is vulnerable to market volatility, global upheaval like COVID-19, and potential financial attack by a rival.

“The significance of a new American maritime flag, ship registry, and transshipment hub extends beyond the Caribbean,” Dawicki said. “These endeavors, and the rest of the plan, will establish a highly transparent and rules-based maritime system, and purposefully guide the practices and processes of global trade entering the United States.”