PORT LUDLOW — A rusted ship docked at the Port Ludlow Marina is due to be moved this week, leaving the temporary mooring it has occupied for two months.
“We are in the process of getting it out and expect it will happen in the next few days,” said George Marincin, owner of the 180-foot New Star.
“There is a weather window this week, and we plan to tow it out of Port Ludlow and dock it in Astoria [Ore.]on its way to Mexico.”
Marincin said once he gets the final approval from the Coast Guard to move the hull, the voyage to Astoria will take about 63 hours.
“We are in the process of getting this done and it will be out soon.”
“We’ve heard the same thing week after week,” said Kelle Kitchel-Cooper, public relations counsel for Port Ludlow Associates, which owns the marina.
“We felt sorry for him at first, but the fact that he has made these promises and not kept them makes us look bad.
“If he doesn’t have a place to take it, he should just tell us, instead of telling us that he has a buyer in Alaska or in Everett that then falls through.”
Kitchel-Cooper said the resort is powerless to correct the situation even though the disabled vessel is in its waters.
Since Oct. 1, the New Star has been tied to the end of the Port Ludlow Marina’s dock, where it dwarfs all the pleasure boats that are moored in the area.
It was to be towed out the Strait of Juan de Fuca into the Pacific, where it was to meet another tugboat to transport it to Mexico to be disassembled and sold as scrap.
When the Mexican tug was delayed over customs issues, the New Star was taken to Port Ludlow for what was supposed to be a few days.
Port Ludlow marina manager Kori Ward said she allowed the New Star to dock at the marina because if she had not, the tugboat operator said it would be anchored in the middle of Port Ludlow Bay.
Ward would not supply an estimate of how much Marincin owes the marina for moorage, and said that he has not received a bill.
“If we bill him, that would mean that we’ve accepted the vessel,” she said.
Ward said she believed Marincin “will do the right thing” with regard to paying his bill and removing the hulk.
Another Marincin creditor is Vessel Assist of Port Ludlow, which is monitoring weather conditions and will implement emergency measures if winds exceed 15 mph.
Vessel Assist’s Roger Slade said Marincin had made a deposit for services and is also optimistic about payment.
“I think he’s a stand-up guy who just got caught in a tangled web,” Slade said.
Marincin said the only obstacle in getting the New Star towed out is to supply a vessel that is rated to haul the 325-metric-ton vessel safely.
Port of Astoria CEO Hank Bynaker said he has received a request for moorage, and that it is under consideration but not yet approved.
He said the request asks the port at the mouth of the Columbia River to host the New Star for about a month.
“This is on my desk now, and I expect we’ll act quickly because [Marincin] has indicated that he wanted this to be resolved sooner rather than later,” Bynaker said.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
