MANAGEMENT OF DERELICT VESSELS THAT THREATEN OUR WATERS: A PRIMER ON DERELICT VESSEL REMOVAL WITH SUCCESS STORIES
Authors: Norton Dan R. , Renoud Danielle M. 
Published: January 2013

Derelict vessels pose significant hazards to the communities in which they reside due to the cornucopia of oils and hazardous materials they contain including fuel oils, lubricating oils, lead-based paints, acid batteries, asbestos, and refrigerants like ammonia and Freon. Additional threats include attractions for children and vagrants, navigational hazards, and potential locations for illegally dumped oil or hazardous materials. The removal of derelict vessels is a complex undertaking due to restrictive legal authorities, ownership questions, high costs, and limited funding streams. The overview provided covers important points to consider prior to initiation of any removal action for a derelict vessel. Points include owner identification and notification, federal removal authorities, removal funding, and potential disposal methods. Included are vessel removal success stories and best practices from a U.S. Coast Guard - State of Washington partnership and the program titled ‘Operation Trash Compactor’. This partnership successfully mitigated pollution threats from the vessels FAL-91 and HERON. Ultimately the creation of such partnerships or creations of taxation systems or mandatory environmental insurance programs are important tools to ensure proper disposal of derelict vessels.

According to African legend older elephants instinctively would direct themselves when they reached their time to an area to die called the elephant graveyard. The myth was due partly to the fact that while elephants are the largest of land mammals, their bones were supposedly never found lying around openly on the African plains. Contributing to the myth was that older elephants and elephant skeletons were often found in the same habitat. Thus the elephant graveyard was believed to be the final destination for literally thousands of elephants and that their bones and tusks would litter the graveyard.

While elephants may have been believed to have had elephant graveyards to go to die in, the question remains for today'S maritime vessels; where do vessels go to die? Like elephants, today'S fleets of maritime vessels are relatively large as far as man-made structures, and older vessels may be found clumped together near industrial waterways or low rent marinas. Unlike elephant bones, however, the steel frames and structures of vessels do not quickly decompose and remain visible symbols of our nation'S limited success in creating a process for dealing with vessels that are no longer profitable to operate.

Derelict is broadly defined as deserted, neglected, or abandoned property. Many states have statutes which include specific legal definitions of derelict and/or abandoned. Derelict vessel is the term best used to describe vessels that are no longer profitable to operate and may have exceeded their service life. In most cases these vessels will incur more costs for proper maintenance than profits gained from their operation. Thus, these vessels represent a negative operational value. In addition most such vessels posses an overall net negative value as any inherent recycling value is more than offset by incurred disposal costs. Without a positive operational or overall value, such vessels are ripe for becoming a derelict/abandoned vessel and thus be a burden for their community, local, state, and federal government.

Derelict vessels are public eye-sores and pose hazards to the communities in which they reside due to the cornucopia of hazardous materials they contain. Hazardous materials include fuel oil, lubricating oils, lead-based paints, acid batteries, asbestos, and refrigerants like ammonia and Freon. Other threats include physical threats from attracting children and vagrants, local environmental impacts from the leaching of iron, potential homes for illegally dumped oil or hazardous materials, and navigational hazards.

While many derelict vessels are abandoned, not all are. Abandonment refers to a vessel which has no active owner, although the definition can vary from state to state. The Abandoned Barge Act (48 USC 4701) defines an abandoned barge as “an owner who has moored, stranded, or left a barge unattended for longer than 45 days” (Abandoned Barge Act, 48 USC 4701). Frequently for derelict vessels an owner or operator can be found, however they often lack the financial means to correct the vessel'S deficiencies.

Independent surveys from 1991 by the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers found approximately 1300 and 4000 abandoned vessels respectively (USCG Marine Safety Manual, Volume 10, Chapter 10). In response to this national survey, U.S. Congress enacted the Abandoned Barge Act (ABA) of 1992. Unfortunately, as the name implies, the act is relevant only to barges, specifically those over 100 Gross Tons. Other federal laws against derelict/abandonment of a vessel are also narrowly constructed (Boring, 2006). The limitations of other federal laws are addressed later in this paper as they apply to the various challenges presented by derelict vessels.

For communities seeking to properly dispose of derelict vessels, there are several core issues to consider. These include ownership, removal authority, funding sources, environmental cleanup, and disposal methods. While this paper is intended to provide a general discussion of primary issues involved in the derelict vessel removal process, it is by no means all-inclusive.