PORT LUDLOW — A derelict ship that has sat at the end of Port Ludlow Marina for several weeks is part of a new program to decrease the load on the state for the disposal of such vessels.
The 180-foot New Star, which has dwarfed all the pleasure boats docked in the area, is due to be towed from Port Ludlow to Neah Bay today, after which time it will be taken to Mexico and disassembled as scrap metal.
“My idea is to take the derelict vessels off of the state’s hands,” said George Marincin, president of VicMar Inc. of Tacoma, which owns the New Star.
“The state spends millions of dollars dealing with these ships, and it comes out of the taxpayers’ pocket.”
Marincin said the New Star was first used in the 1940s as a minesweeper in the Pacific and was converted to a fish-processing vessel in 1955.
For the past several years, it has been stationed as a breakwater in the Tacoma area.
The owner paid Marincin to dispose of the vessel, with the plan to tow it to Mexico, where it was to be put on a dry dock and cut into scrap metal for sale to the Asian market.
Marincin said state law does not allow vessels to be cut up in this manner, necessitating its transport to Mexico.
His plan is to tow several ships at a time, generating enough scrap metal to turn a profit.
The New Star represented the first attempt at this process, with another vessel from Newport, Ore., to be towed at the same time.
The New Star set out from Tacoma at the beginning of October but hit a snag when the Mexican tug that was to be used in the transport was held up by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The New Star, then in transit, headed for the nearest port, which was Port Ludlow.
The idea was to leave it in place for a few days until the Customs matter was resolved, but that took longer than expected, Marincin said.
It has taken weeks to clear up the Mexican tug’s Customs problems and find temporary mooring in Neah Bay, Marincin said.
The Derelict Vessel Removal Program, operated by the state Department of Natural Resources, has the discretionary authority to remove and dispose of a vessel within its jurisdiction that has become abandoned or derelict, according to the DNR website.
The program funds local entities for them to take temporary or permanent custody of a vessel.
Temporary possession is an emergency action if a vessel is in immediate danger of sinking, breaking up, blocking navigation channels or posing imminent threat to human health or safety, including the threat of environmental contamination.
With a permanent possession, the DNR either disposes of the vessel in an ecologically safe manner or attempts to sell it and return all funds to the Derelict Vessel Removal Account.
The law — which grew out of a 1999 abandoned fish processor that had become an eyesore and navigation danger on Port Townsend Bay — has aided in the removal of 421 derelict vessels as of Oct, 5.
One of those was an abandoned sailboat that had been anchored in west Port Angeles Harbor for years.
A total of 226 vessels have been reported to the state but not removed.
“This delay [of the New Star] has been unfortunate,” said Marincin.
“The people in Port Ludlow were very helpful, and we appreciate that, but we are working to get the New Star to Mexico as soon as possible.”
Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
