Bahamas News
BAHAMAS: Three Dominican Motherships Captured in Combined Effort
#Nassau, October 15, 2018 – Bahamas – The Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) escorted three “motherships” with 124 fishermen from the Dominican Republic to the capital after they were turned over to the Defence Force by the Cuban Border Patrol yesterday.
The Dominicans had illegally entered Cuban waters after being pursued by the Defence Force for illegally fishing in Bahamian waters. The apprehension was the result of a collaborative effort by the Royal Bahamas Defence Force with the United States Coast Guard and the Cuban Border Patrol over the past several days.
On Wednesday 10th October, the United States Coast Guard Cutter (USCGC) VIGILANT with a Defence Force ship-rider on board reported the sighting of a fishing vessel from the Dominican Republic north of the Republic of Haiti. The Dominicans aboard the vessel indicated that they were in route to The Bahamas.
The Defence Force was subsequently notified and Her Majesty’s Bahamian Ship (HMBS) MADEIRA was directed to intercept the Dominican vessel in the event it entered Bahamian waters.
HMBS MADEIRA later sighted the three vessels at daybreak on Saturday 13th October with skiffs in the water near Cay Lobos–a small cay on the southern edge of the Great Bahama Bank, 12 nautical miles north of central Cuba. MADEIRA deployed its seaboat with a boarding team to apprehend the motherships before they entered Cuban waters.
The Dominican vessels opened fire on the approaching boarding team while fleeing into Cuban waters. MADEIRA’s boarding party returned fire in self-defence. One of the three steel-hulled vessels ran aground in Cuban waters while trying to escape. None of the Defence Force boarding team members were injured during the incident.
The Defence Force immediately alerted the Cuban Border Patrol of the incident and informed The Bahamas Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which sought the assistance of the Cuban Government in apprehending the vessels. As a result, the Cuban Border Patrol apprehended the three vessels with 124 crew members (Saturday October 13th) and turned them over to MADEIRA and HMBS DURWARD KNOWLES yesterday (October 14th). HMBS DURWARD KNOWLES was also on patrol in the southeastern Bahamas investigating a separate report of a suspicious vessel in the area.
This is the second Dominican poaching apprehension for the year involving HMBS MADEIRA. On July 8th, MADEIRA apprehended a Dominican fishing vessel attempting to flee into Cuban waters. The captain and 46 crew members were subsequently caught, charged and fined $53,000 each totaling more than $2.3 million dollars.
Additionally, the Captain of the vessel, Radhames Hernandez, was convicted and sentenced to 18 months at The Bahamas Department of Corrections (BDOCS).
Coincidentally, in November 2016, HMBS MADEIRA, apprehended two Dominican vessels in adverse weather conditions in the Old Bahama Channel. During the incident, one of the vessels attempted to escape by ramming MADEIRA, which incurred structural damage, and one crew member was injured. The vessel completed repairs in February 2018 at a cost of approximately $250,000 dollars.
The two Captains and 50 crew members involved were arrested and fined $50,000 and $20,000 respectively, for an approximate total of $1.4 million dollars in fines. The first offenders were sentenced to six months at BDOCS and second offenders were sentenced to 1 year. The Captain of the vessel that rammed Madeira was given 16 months.
Commodore Tellis Bethel expressed much appreciation for the assistance provided by the Cuban Border Patrol and the prompt response of the Cuban Embassy here in Nassau in coordinating the apprehension and handing over of the Dominican poachers to the Defence Force.
In May of this year, Defence Force and Cuban Border Patrol officials met in Cuba and discussed how their units could enhance their collaborative law enforcement efforts during the 5th Round of Talks on Migration between The Bahamas and Cuba. Not long thereafter, the Cuban Border Patrol apprehended 10 Dominicans who fled into Cuban waters after HMBS DURWARD KNOWLES captured their mothership in the southern Bahamas.
Commodore Bethel also expressed gratitude for the support received from USCG District 7, which has responsibility for maritime operations in the Caribbean region. The initial action taken by the Commanding Officer and crew members of USCGC VIGILANT in confirming the vessels’ destination, and informing the Defence Force of the same resulted in a chain reaction that ultimately led to the apprehension of the poachers. In July of this year, a collaborative effort between the Defence Force and the US Coast Guard culminated in a double apprehension of two Haitian sloops in the southeastern Bahamas with 162 migrants on board.
The brave efforts of MADEIRA’s commanding officer, Senior Lieutenant William Sturrup, his officers and crew members, who have risked their lives on more than one occasion in stopping the scourge of foreign poaching in Bahamian waters, were commended by Commodore Bethel. “Their commitment, hard work and willingness to go beyond the call of duty is highly commendable” said Commodore Bethel.
The Defence Force chief also commended his Operations Commander, Commander Clarence Dean, the Squadron Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Carlon Bethell, the Commanding Officer of Commando Squadron, Lieutenant Commander Derrick Ferguson, the Legal Affairs Officer, Lieutenant 
Commander Floyd Moxey, and their respective teams for their collective efforts in coordinating the interception, apprehension, and hand over of the poachers to the Defence Force by the Cuban Border Patrol with the assistance of The Bahamas’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Thus far, the Defence Force has apprehended two Dominican vessels netting over 50 Dominican poachers and 42,000 pounds of fisheries products for the year. Fisheries products aboard the 3 recently apprehended vessels are currently being assessed.
The 3 vessels and 124 crew members will be transported to Nassau and handed over to officials at the Marine Resources Unit, the Bahamas Immigration Department and the Royal Bahamas Police Force for further processing.
Release: RBDF
Photo Captions:
Header: Two Dominican vessels alongside HMBS Coral Harbour which were involved in an attempt to escape by ramming HMBS MADEIRA in November 2016.
First Insert: HMBS Madeira underway.
Second Insert: Haitian Migrants after they were apprehended in Bahamian waters.
Third Insert: Confiscated fisheries during a previous poaching arrest.
(For further information please contact the RBDF Public Relations Department or visit our website:www.rbdf.gov.bs, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and view ourYoutube channel)
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PM: Project delivers on promise and invests in youth, sports and national development
GRAND BAHAMA, The Bahamas — Calling it the fulfillment of a major commitment to the island, Prime Minister Philip Davis led the official groundbreaking for the Grand Bahama Aquatic Centre, a facility the government says will transform sports development and create new opportunities for young athletes.
Speaking at the Grand Bahama Sports Complex on February 12, the Prime Minister said the project represents more than bricks and mortar
— it is an investment in people, national pride and long-term economic activity. The planned complex will feature a modern 50-metre competition pool, designed to meet international standards for training and regional and global swim meets. Davis said the facility will give Bahamian swimmers a home capable of producing world-class performance while also providing a space for community recreation, learn-to-swim programmes and water safety training.
He noted that Grand Bahama has long produced outstanding athletes despite limited infrastructure and said the new centre is intended to correct that imbalance, positioning the island as a hub for aquatic sports and sports tourism.
The Prime Minister also linked the development to the broader national recovery and revitalisation of Grand Bahama, describing the project as part of a strategy to expand opportunities for young people, create jobs during construction and stimulate activity for small businesses once operational.
The Aquatic Centre, he said, stands as proof that promises made to Grand Bahama are being delivered.
The project is expected to support athlete development, attract competitions, and provide a safe, modern environment for residents to access swimming and water-based programmes for generations to come.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
The Bahamas, February 15, 2026 – For the better part of three years, Bahamians have been told that major Afreximbank financing would help transform access to capital, rebuild infrastructure and unlock economic growth across the islands. The headline figures are large. The signing ceremonies are high profile. The language is ambitious. What remains far harder to see is the measurable impact in the daily lives of the people those announcements are meant to serve.
The Government’s push to secure up to $100 million from Afreximbank for roughly 200 miles of Family Island roads dates back to 2025. In
its February 11 disclosure, the bank outlined a receivables-discounting facility — a structure that allows a contractor to be paid early once work is completed, certified and invoiced, with the Government settling the bill later. It is not cash placed into the economy upfront. It does not, by itself, build a single mile of road. Every dollar depends on work first being delivered and approved.
The wider framework has been described as support for “climate-resilient and trade-enhancing infrastructure,” a phrase that, in practical terms, should mean projects that lower the cost of doing business, move people and goods faster, and keep the economy functioning. But for communities, that promise becomes real only when the projects are named, the standards are defined and a clear timeline is given for when work will begin — and when it will be finished.
Bahamians have seen this moment before.
In 2023, a $30 million Afreximbank facility for the Bahamas Development Bank was hailed as a breakthrough that would expand access to financing for local enterprise. It worked in one immediate and measurable way: it encouraged businesses to apply. Established, revenue-generating Bahamian companies responded to the call, prepared plans, and entered a process they believed had been capitalised to support growth. The unanswered question is how much of that capital has reached the private sector in a form that allowed those businesses to expand, hire and generate new economic activity.
Because development is not measured in the size of announcements.
It is measured in loans disbursed, projects completed and businesses expanded.
The pattern is becoming difficult to ignore. In June 2024, when Afreximbank held its inaugural Caribbean Annual Meetings in Nassau,
Grand Bahama was presented as the future home of an Afro-Caribbean marketplace said to carry tens of millions of dollars in investment. What was confirmed at that stage was a $1.86 million project-preparation facility — funding for studies and planning to make the development bankable, not construction financing. The larger build-out remains dependent on additional approvals, land acquisition and further capital.
This distinction — between financing announced and financing that produces visible, measurable outcomes — is now at the centre of the national conversation.
Because while the numbers grow larger on paper, entrepreneurs still describe access to capital as out of reach, and communities across the Family Islands are still waiting to see where the work will start.
And in an economy where stalled growth translates into lost opportunity, rising frustration and real social consequences, the gap between promise and delivery is no longer a communications issue.
It is an inability to convert announcements into outcomes.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
A hardline strategy that reduced murders, gunfire, and collateral deaths
The Bahamas, February 8, 2026 – What happens when police stop routinely granting bail to high-risk suspects and aggressively execute outstanding warrants? In The Bahamas, the answer in 2025 was fewer murders, fewer gunshots, and safer communities.
The Royal Bahamas Police Force arrested 4,337 individuals on outstanding warrants last year, ensuring suspects were brought directly before the courts instead of being released back onto the streets. At the same time, police significantly curtailed the use of police bail for high-risk and repeat offenders, particularly those already entangled in violent disputes.
Police Commissioner Shanta Knowles said the shift was informed by hard lessons from previous years. Intelligence reviews showed that
many homicide victims were not random targets, but men already wanted by law enforcement and — critically — by other criminals. When released on bail, those individuals often became targets themselves, triggering retaliatory shootings that spilled into neighbourhoods, roadways and public spaces.
By keeping high-risk suspects in custody pending court appearances, police say they disrupted that cycle — removing both potential offenders and potential victims from the streets.
The impact was stark. Murders declined by 31 percent in 2025, falling from 120 in 2024 to 83, the largest percentage decrease in homicides since national tracking began in 1963 and the lowest murder count in nearly two decades.
Police leaders say the strategy also reduced the collateral damage that had increasingly alarmed communities. Innocent residents had been caught in “sprays of gunfire” as targeted attacks unfolded in residential areas, at traffic stops, and in public settings.
Gun-violence indicators reflected the change. Gunshot reports fell by 35 percent, while incidents detected by ShotSpotter technology declined by 29 percent, confirming that fewer shots were being fired across the country.
“Gunshots ringing out and cutting through our peaceful paradise were down remarkably,” Commissioner Knowles said, attributing the improvement to decisive enforcement, tighter bail practices, and sustained pressure on offenders.
Police also intensified enforcement against breach of bail conditions, charging and detaining more suspects than in any previous reporting period. Officers say the approach removed the opportunity for repeat offending while matters were before the courts.
Police leadership said the results go beyond statistics. By limiting bail for high-risk suspects and executing warrants at scale, the strategy saved lives, protected bystanders, and restored confidence in public safety.
In 2025, fewer people were hunted, fewer bullets were fired, and fewer families were left grieving — a shift police say was no accident, but the result of deliberate, hardline choices.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
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