Luperon, DR: Cruisers ban together, protest fees

[bcripps]

I read this on the NoonSite forum and thought it worth passing the information along:


Cruisers met yesterday, October 5, 2015, to discuss disputed Harbor Fees that are meant to be levied against commercial shipping in the Dominican Republic's commercial harbors. The fees are being applied to sailboats. And Luperon is not officially declared a commercial harbor in government documents.


Cruisers who attended the meeting were surprised when three armed security guards showed up. “A blatant attempt to intimidate us!” one cruiser shouted.


In a letter to the group, Lloyd's Surveyor, Danny Weston, stated, “one has to ask why Luperon is the only harbor in the country that charges these fees.”


A representative of the Ministry of Tourism agreed to represent the cruisers, but returned after a short meeting with Harbor Authority officials with the glum news that starting on October 6, 2015, they would begin confiscating sailboats and selling them at auction.


One can only conclude that Luperon DR remains an inhospitable stop on the way south and should be avoided if possible.

[sheldon957]

Is this going to effect other harbors in the DR? How many "commercial" harbors are there? Maybe everyone will have to skip the DR.