Leadership from the West Indian Company reported growth to the V.I. Public Finance Authority Board Wednesday, nearly one month after an appearance before the Senate Economic Development and Agriculture Committee, in which lawmakers grilled the public corporation over millions of dollars in payments owed in lieu of taxes.
Presenting his annual report to the PFA Board since taking over as president and chief executive of WICO, former Tourism Commissioner Joseph Boschulte said the public corporation had “turned the corner” from the COVID-19 pandemic, during which the company weathered an 18-month stretch with no cruise ship calls.
“But we have seen our cruise lines come back strong,” he said, reporting that WICO received 960,000 passengers in 2025 and projects more than a million in 2026. Boschulte also reported a 34 percent increase in weekend traffic. “This is a very positive sign for the territory, because it shows that where we used to have many vacancies on weekends, we’re starting to get that back.”
Despite a 14-percent increase in profits last year, Boschulte suggested that continued growth would rely on a plan to dredge the Charlotte Amalie Harbor in order to accommodate larger vessels. The V.I. Port Authority began the first phase of that project in December with the demolition of the abandoned Addelita Cancryn Junior High School. The site will be used to store and transport dredged materials, according to VIPA. The territory issued a second invitation to bid on the dredging itself in November, and Boschulte said Wednesday that the authority received five responses.
“It continues to be our biggest concern as we move into fiscal ‘26 and fiscal ‘27, because the ships continue to get bigger, the drafts become deeper, which basically means that we need to make sure that our harbor and our channels are safe for these ships to come in and berth at the WICO dock,” he said.
