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Abandoned Vessels A Concern For Coastal NC

Wanchese Seafood Park near Manteo

  You’ve seen them.  Abandoned boats slowly deteriorating in area waterways.  In New Bern, the pair of tug boats half sunk under the Neuse River Bridge was a scene most people observed passing by on Highway 70.  To some, these derelict vessels may seem picturesque.

“If you go over to Pamlico County the boat in the boathouse, right outside the Bayboro area there that particular one people have probably been looking at that for many, many years.”

But for Judy Hills, the Executive Director of Eastern Carolina Council of Governments, they’re a nuisance.  Not only do the long-forgotten boats spoil the pristine nature of the coast, she says some abandoned vessels may pose a navigation hazard or environmental impact from leaking fuel and oil.  

The fact is abandoned boats left in local waterways is an increasing problem.  Several years ago, the Eastern Carolina Council decided to conduct a survey to determine the scope of the issue.

“Back in 2007- 2008 is when we did our initial work on this as part of a grant that we had received from the state and we determined at that time that there was a problem and that it would be likely to grow because of the number of vessels that we have here in the coastal region.”

Each boat has its own story to tell in how it ended up in its final resting place.  Some may have floated away during a hurricane.  Others may have been abandoned after running aground on a sandbar.  Unfortunately, the cost of having the vessel removed would be too much so they just decide to leave it. 

Credit Eas
This derelict sailboat hull on the Beaufort waterfront

  “The boat is aged and to the point where it’s of no value.  Maybe they’ve tried to sell it and they couldn’t sell it.  Maybe they’re paying dockage and they don’t want to pay that expense anymore.  So they say ‘hey, I’ll just go park it over there and throw the anchor over, just let it sit out there.’  If you look off of Tryon Palace over here in New Bern you can see one vessel in particular that looks like it’s been there for a while.”

The Eastern Carolina Council of Governments in partnership with North Carolina Sea Grant conducted a survey of derelict and abandoned vessels from August 11th through September 4th.   Judy Hills says they asked residents to fill out an online survey sharing their local knowledge of where abandoned boats are located.

“We didn’t ask them to go out and specifically look for these.  These would be citizens who have an interest in this and have noted, perhaps they were boaters and they were on the water a lot and they were just aware of these vessels being out there.  Or perhaps they were just an irate citizen who might have been when one of these vessels might have been docked off of their property.”

This old fishing vessel is in Vandemere Creek in Pamlico County.
 

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  During the six week survey, 143 people responded.  The area included the 20 Coastal Area Management Act counties, from Dare, Currituck, Camden and Pasquotank counties, down to Brunswick, New Hanover and Pender.   Participation in the survey came from 16 of those counties.

  “So we thought that was a good representation.  The highest number of respondents were from Currituck County followed by Hyde County as a close second as far as number of people who chose to participate in the survey.”

Over 75 percent of those who completed the survey thought that abandoned and derelict vessels in their community was an important or very important issue.  Hills says the two main concerns among survey takers were that the derelict vessels are unsightly and the potential harm to the environment.

“There were also a number of write in comments where people expressed concerns that a high wind event would perhaps cause this abandoned or derelict vessel break off its mooring or perhaps come off the bottom if it was sitting on the bottom and that it would damage people’s docks or structures and other vessels that might be in the area.”

The majority of people who completed the survey said they knew of one to three vessels in their immediate area that were abandoned.  44 percent of those were sailboats.  When asked if they had tried to get rid of a bothersome vessel, Hills says survey participants found it extremely difficult.

“First, they were unable to identify the owner.  The second one, there was no jurisdiction or agency willing to assume ownership of the problem so they were left to deal with it. And or they were unable to find any identifying information on the vessel so they could subsequently seek an owner.  A lot of times if they’re intentionally abandoned, they will strip any evidence of what we call vessel identification numbers.  So it’s very difficult to do something about it when you don’t know who owns it.”

With the data compiled from the survey, Hills says they will begin to form a working group that will tackle some of the unclear issues, such as how to deal with an abandoned vessel and who is responsible for removal.  They also hope to place an emphasis on preventing boats from ending up in the waterways by identifying owners of aging boats and making them aware of proper disposal options.
 

Credit Eastern Carolina Council
This vessel rests near Mesic in Pamlico County up one of the small creeks. It was probably a small commercial fishing vessel at one time.

  “The working group that we’re going to convene, the outcome that we hope to get is ideas for involvement with different agencies that could help solve this problem.  Ideally, we’d like to have a funding stream for it, but that’s difficult.  We have to take small steps at the beginning and do everything we can to get the laws in place to be able to effectively deal with this.”

Although the survey has concluded, Hills says people can still report an abandoned vessel to the Eastern Carolina Council of Governments.  However, it’s especially important that a boat leaking oil or gas into the water be reported to the Coast Guard.  And if the vessel is located in a navigational channel, the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers should be contacted and they will remove the boat. 

Jared Brumbaugh is the Assistant General Manager for Public Radio East. An Eastern North Carolina native, Jared began his professional public radio career at Public Radio East while he was a student at Craven Community College earning his degree in Electronics Engineering Technology. During his 15+ years at Public Radio East, he has served as an award-winning journalist, producer, and on-air host. When not at the station, Jared enjoys hiking, traveling, and honing his culinary skills.