North Sound Summit Highlights Maritime Safety as
At the North Sound Summit on 4 November 2025, Jerome Padmore, Chief Marine Accident Investigator at the Marine Safety Investigation and Reporting Authority (MSIRA), urged stronger maritime safety measures across the Virgin Islands and announced a new MSIRA section on the Government portal. The summit also marked Moskito Island’s first year on the Summit’s Steering Committee alongside Necker Island and Oil Nut Bay, signalling deeper private-sector engagement in local maritime planning (Government of the Virgin Islands).
The 2025 North Sound Summit took place on 4 November at Moskito Island’s Cape Stout Estate, bringing together government representatives, private island developers and marine-sector stakeholders to discuss safe, sustainable management of the North Sound. This year’s summit marked Moskito Island’s first year serving on the Summit’s Steering Committee, joining Necker Island and Oil Nut Bay — private island developments owned by Sir Richard Branson and David V.
Johnson respectively — in what the Government of the Virgin Islands describes as growing private-sector engagement in local maritime planning. Representatives from the Premier’s Office attended, including MSIRA Chief Marine Accident Investigator Jerome Padmore and Fisheries Manager Abbi Christopher, underscoring the Government’s continued focus on maritime safety, responsible marine management and environmental stewardship (Government of the Virgin Islands).
Padmore delivered a detailed presentation on MSIRA’s mandate and work. He outlined the authority’s role in conducting independent, fact-based inquiries into marine accidents to determine root causes and prevent future incidents without seeking to apportion blame or establish liability.
Padmore cited recent investigations into vessel collisions, capsizings, mooring failures and navigational errors — incidents with direct implications for operators and users in the North Sound, where tourism, charters and inter-island transport depend on safe navigation and reliable moorings.
A major announcement at the summit was the launch of a dedicated MSIRA section on the Government portal (gov.vg/MSIRA). The new online resource, highlighted in the Government’s press release, gives the public access to investigation reports, incident-reporting tools and educational materials aimed at helping operators, crew and recreational boaters improve safety practices (Government of the Virgin Islands).
Padmore stressed the importance of building a Territory-wide safety culture by aligning more closely with international standards set by the International Maritime Organization and the IMO Casualty Investigation Code, and by improving communication between government agencies and private marine stakeholders.
He called for stronger coordination on emergency response, mooring maintenance and safe visitor management to reduce preventable incidents in BVI waters. The four-hour summit included targeted roundtable discussions and a networking luncheon where participants explored ways to enhance inter-island transport, emergency response coordination and visitor safety standards.
According to the Government release, stakeholders expressed unanimous support for continued partnership to ensure the North Sound remains a safe, well-managed and world-class maritime destination. MSIRA operates under the Premier’s Office and is guided by the Merchant Shipping (Accident Reporting and Investigation) Regulations, 2020 and international investigation codes.
Its primary objective is to reduce future incidents by identifying safety issues and issuing evidence-based recommendations — a message that organisers and participants at the North Sound Summit said they intend to carry forward into practical action across the Territory (Government of the Virgin Islands).
Primary source: BVI Government