Abandoned derelict vessels are costing Maine communities thousands of dollars

It took nearly seven months but the 83-foot dragger that sank in the New Meadows River in Harpswell during the Jan. 10 winter storm has finally been removed. The U.S. Coast Guard took the unusual step of assuming control of the Jacob Pike’s salvage and cleanup.

In early August, federal and state pollution response officials monitored the Jacob Pike as it was rigged with air bags to lift it and tow it out of the New Meadows River in Harpswell, for disposal at Turner Island marine cargo in South Portland.

In January, when the vessel sank, the U.S. Coast Guard sent divers down to handle immediate hazards, including pumping out 400 gallons of oily water and removing several batteries. But with hundreds of gallons of fuel left in the Jacob Pike’s tanks, the federal government wanted to remove it.

Cmdr. Frank Kulesa oversees response operations for the U.S. Coast Guard’s Northern New England Sector and said the vessel’s owner, Cyrus Cleary, failed to handle the pollution threat and removal adequately, so they took control of the salvage operation.

“When that party doesn’t take appropriate action we can open the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund to remove the pollution threat. In circumstances where we can’t remove all of it from the vessel in its current condition, we can request and seek authorization under the Clean Water Act to remove the wreck, clean it and dispose of it,” Kulesa said.

Cleary has pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor charge of abandonment of a watercraft. If convicted, he could spend up to six months in jail and pay a fine of up to $1,000.

But the Coast Guard estimates that more than $300,000 will have been spent on the operation, which officials say Cleary will owe in restitution to the federal government.

Despite the wreck’s scale, Kulesa said there have been no reports of contamination in wildlife or nearby oyster farms. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection doesn’t expect any residual pollution.

“This is a hot topic up and down the state,” said Paul Plummer, Harpswell’s harbor master and a member of the Maine Harbor Masters Association.

Plummer said the problem of abandoned boats isn’t limited to commercial vessels. He said that he’s got a recreational boat to remove once the Jacob Pike is gone. It’s moored illegally and is now sinking.

Plummer said he has had several derelict boats to contend with since the pandemic.

“That big COVID boom. Everyone was looking for a way to get away from each other. So the best thing to do was go buy some crappy old boat that barely floated and go have fun with your family. Now people are realizing that it’s really expensive to maintain these boats even if it’s just a 12-foot or 6-foot skiff. It’s just as easy to walk away because there’s not a lot of accountability,” Plummer said.

He said those boat owners also get charged with abandonment of a watercraft. But Plummer said in one case a boat owner pleaded financial hardship to the judge and was given just a $25 fine. So Harpswell got stuck with a bill of thousands of dollars to remove the boat.

Portland Harbor Master Kevin Battle said he has to deal with two or three abandoned boats a year. He said when the owners can’t sell them at market rate they drop the price.

“They undersell them to somebody who really doesn’t have the wherewithal to own a boat,” Battle said.

The state’s abandoned watercraft statute says 5 percent of any salvage value goes into the Submerged Lands Fund to help municipalities pay for removal operations. But the Bureau of Submerged Lands reported that it never has enough funding to help municipalities remove derelict vessels and preferred to use what funding it has for infrastructure like public boat ramps.

Now the bureau, with the help of the Maine Harbor Masters Association, is creating an Abandoned Derelict Vessel Removal Grant program that coastal communities could tap into when they need help paying for a salvage operation. The maximum grant would be $15,000 and require a 25 percent match. It’s hoped the measure can go before lawmakers this fall.

The abandoned watercraft statute, currently a misdemeanor, could also be strengthened to make vessel owners more accountable.

With the Jacob Pike gone and the summer winding down, Plummer plans to survey harbor masters in the fall to see just how many derelict boats are out there.

The Bureau of Submerged Lands, meanwhile, is waiting to hear from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration about a $685,000 grant that it has just submitted to remove four large abandoned vessels along Maine’s coast that have been neglected a decade or more.

They include a former car ferry, a 35-foot lobster boat, the 57-foot fishing vessel the Roamer and the 97-foot commercial vessel Columbia.

This article appears through a media partnership with Maine Public .