I don’t know who has responsibility for the buoys now, but I do know when the buoy system was changed back in 1983 or 1984, the charter companies in the BVI got together and divvied up the responsibilities among themselves to change the system from the original “British” system to the current “American” system. These are currently legally known as Region A and Region B.

I was working for the Moorings and was tasked with taking care of the buoys at the breakwater for the inner harbor in Road Town. On the designated day I got up before dawn, loaded a couple of gallons of paint in a dinghy and headed out to the buoys as it was getting daylight and before the wind started. I slathered green paint on the old red buoys and red paint on the old green buoys. Done, the BVIs were now (mostly) compliant with Region B regulations.

I assume that some BVI Government agency had the authority over aids to navigation, but my faded memory thinks it remembers that the charter companies decided (rightfully) to take things into their own hands to just get things done.