"This one will cost $20,000 to remove," Lt. David Dipre, state derelict vessel coordinator for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) estimated. "Maybe more."
Dipre scanned the large, half-sunken, fishing boat, lying halfway on its side in a small inlet of the St. Marks River in Franklin County. He and Officer John Allen attached a bright orange notice to the vessel's rotting cabin.
Removing junked-out, abandoned boats is a costly but necessary endeavor the FWC has undertaken. With an estimated 1,500 of these boats, known as "derelict vessels," in the state's waters, they are a big problem. They create safety and navigational hazards and dump pollutants into the water. For the 2008-09 fiscal year, legislators took action, granting $1.55 million to the FWC to remove derelict vessels.
Dipre travels across the state, evaluating the derelict vessel situation on coastlines and inland water bodies. He trains other FWC officers to recognize and investigate derelict vessels. Once they identify a boat as derelict, they attach a notice to the vessel and launch an investigation. They notify the owner he must remove the vessel within five days.
"The FWC will use every available means to identify the owner of a derelict vessel," Dipre said. "We will work with the owner to remove it, but if he fails, he will be charged with a crime."
In some instances, the last person who possessed the vessel, rather than the owner, will have to remove it at his own expense.
Owners of, or persons responsible for, derelict vessels risk prosecution under Florida Statute 823.11(4), a first-degree misdemeanor, and they may have to pay a civil penalty to cover the cost of the derelict vessel removal. On occasion, the owner or person who last possessed the boat may face a felony charge if the boat was intentionally dumped. If the FWC can't identify the boat's owner, officers will determine whether to remove it at state expense.
The longer a derelict vessel sits in the water, the costlier the removal probably will be. Removal can vary from a few thousand dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"It is better to remove a derelict vessel as soon as possible," said Capt. Carol Keyser of the FWC's Boating and Waterways Section. "We encourage the public to be diligent in reporting suspected abandoned, junked boats. It is more likely we can determine who the boat owner is if it is reported early. Timely intervention is the best prevention."
Derelict vessel removal is prioritized according to public safety, navigational hazards and environmental hazards, respectively. The FWC is removing vessels in various counties and municipalities throughout the state, but no particular county or municipality is given priority. Derelict vessels must be in public waters for the FWC to remove them.
"Derelict vessels have become all too common," Keyser said. "As the population of Florida has increased, so has the number of boats on the water and as a consequence, the number of derelict vessels. In addition, lack of state funding, smaller local budgets and several tropical storms have increased the number of damaged and abandoned boats."
A sunken boat may not meet the criteria if it is salvageable and the owner salvages it. Likewise, a boat may be floating, but if it is inoperable and taken apart, it may be considered derelict. This is why an investigation is necessary to make sure a boat is junked, wrecked or permanently taken apart and the owner is unable or unwilling to remove it.
"A derelict vessel can be floating or sunken," Dipre said. "And a vessel doesn't have to be pretty - it just has to be legal. It is not a crime to have an unattractive boat on the waters of the state."
Once the derelict vessel is removed from the water, the marine contractor may remove whatever is salvageable from the boat to offset the cost of removal. The derelict vessel is destroyed and disposed of at a local, licensed landfill.
From North Florida to the southern tip of the state, Dipre has seen every size, shape and form of derelict vessels.
"This is a public safety issue. Some of these vessels are hidden at the surface of the water and are just waiting to be struck by an unsuspecting boater. Other derelict vessels, or parts of them, can drift into channels, causing another kind of hazard. Even one eventuality is bad, and this situation has become too risky."
The FWC has a contract with Post, Buckley, Schuh & Jernigan (PBS&J) to assist with the physical removal of derelict vessels. PBS&J is a full-service planning and engineering consulting firm, headquartered in Tampa.
As of today, the FWC has removed 22 derelict vessels. By June 30, the FWC hopes to remove 75 more - for a total of 97.
Counties which have had, and are going to have, derelict vessel removals within the next three months are Brevard, Dade, Duval, Escambia, Franklin, Hillsborough, Monroe, Nassau and Pinellas.
Derelict vessels can be reported by calling 888-404-3922. An FWC officer will be assigned to investigate and initiate a derelict vessel case file.
