The BVITB’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Keith Dawson said these schedules will be publicly available once the Tourist Board’s website is upgraded.

“We are actually upgrading the Tourist Board website and certainly that’s something we’ll be ensuring that’s done as well,” Dawson said in an interview with BVI News last evening.

“We’ll be reaching out to get information from these industry partners (ferry operators) … We are in the process of doing that. So yes, we will have that information on the website and we will try to keep it as up-to-date as possible,” Dawson told our news centre.

“We do [have] ferry scheduling information on our website per se, but I would say I am not sure if all the information is updated because the ferries have changed their schedule and have been changing their schedule from time to time based on the adjustments being made to the protocols. What we have been doing is posting them on our social media channels,” Dawson explained.

BVIPA listings

The PRO further said the BVI Ports Authority (BVIPA) had posted a ferry schedule for the resumption and eventual expansion of ferry trips between the BVI and St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. However, he noted a similar domestic ferry schedule for trips between local islands within the territory is not available.

Natasha Chalwell, the marketing director of the BVIPA, noted the Ports Authority does not usually publish the routes of ferries. However, the extraordinary circumstances with COVID-19 and the gradual reopening of the international ferry service made it necessary for the BVIPA to publish the specific ferry schedule for the trips between the BVI and the USVI.

Dawson’s and Chalwell’s invited comments follow a Facebook post from the local ferry service, Native Son Ferry, who complained about the the absence of central listing for all ferry schedules running to islands in the territory.

“It’s so confusing for travellers right now,” the ferry service stated. “The amount of calls, emails, WhatsApp messages and questions we get daily from people trying to figure out connections is unbelievable and unsustainable to answer.”