PORT TOWNSEND — The Port of Port Townsend and the state Department of Natural Resources will kick off a new derelict vessel recycling program with a demonstration Monday in Port Townsend.
Starting at 6 a.m. Monday, a derelict rowboat will begin moving toward the port facilities, including a “wake” for the vessel at 8:30 a.m. featuring bagpipe players from the Northwest Maritime Center.
At 9 a.m., the boat will arrive at the port’s public boat ramp at 2701 Jefferson Street and be pulled out of the water and stripped of its parts.
At 9:40 a.m., the boat will be crushed and readied for recycling at the Boat Haven Boatyard.
Last year, the state Legislature dedicated $100,000 to DNR to create a derelict vessel recycling program to keep vessels recovered by the agency out of landfills, the department said in a news release.
Since the derelict vessel program began in 2002, the agency has removed nearly 1,000 vessels from Washington’s waterways, but those have been placed into landfills across the state.
The recycling program is being launched in conjunction with the Northwest Straits Commission and Washington Sea Grant in an effort to keep the state’s waterways healthy and the boats out of landfills, DNR said.
The Vessel Turn-In Program was created in 2014 to help prevent vessels from becoming derelict or abandoned by allowing vessel owners to turn in their boats for free disposal if they meet certain criteria.
One of the boats DNR will be recycling Monday is a rowboat that was rowed across the Atlantic from New York City to the United Kingdom in 2006.
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Reporter Peter Segall can be reached at peter.segall@peninsuladailynews.com.
