Anthony Ottley, president of the West Indian Company, reported to his board of directors Friday that cruise ship visits to the dock at Havensight were “edging back to normalcy” after the COVID epidemic. He predicted that the WICO dock would soon have over 300 cruise ship visits per year.
He added that dredging Charlotte Amalie Harbor, which recently went out for bid, would open the harbor for visits from larger cruise ships currently skipping St. Thomas.
He sees the Virgin Islands “enjoying the financial benefits” of tourism for “years to come.”
He cited some recent statistics WICO has gathered.
Since the start of the 2025 season, WICO has received 126 ship calls carrying 383,836 passengers.
This is a 7 percent increase of over 24,000 passengers as compared to the same period last season.
For fiscal year 2025, WICO has projected 282 ship calls with 976,000 passengers expected. This is due to several regular vessels scheduled to be on dry dock for part of the season. For fiscal year 2026, he is projecting well over 300 ship visits to WICO’s dock.
Some board members questioned Ottley during the regular February board meeting about how an agreement with the Government Employees’ Retirement System was working.
GERS owns the Havensight Mall. WICO is getting water through GERS pipes while some of WICO’s water pipes are being worked on. Ottley said the arrangement was working well.
Questions were also raised about the liability of residents using WICO’s parking lot during GERS-sponsored Friday night events. Ottley was directed to contact GERS to get clarity on the issue.
