A 30-foot sailboat that ran aground just feet from the shores of Bellingham’s Waypoint Park in July was finally salvaged Wednesday. The vessel, sitting in the shallow waters connecting the mouth of Whatcom Creek into Bellingham Bay, had been beached for weeks.
While the Washington State Department of Ecology quickly confirmed that the vessel did not pose an environmental threat, it could be a navigational hazard to anyone using the waterway.
The water and surrounding wreckage were assessed by Global Diving and Salvage, and the vessel was brought up from the water by Colony Wharfs. The two local marine salvage companies received a contract through the state Department of Natural Resources’ Derelict Vessel Removal Program.
The program began in 2002 to respond to sunken, run-aground and abandoned vessels throughout Washington’s 2.6 million acres of aquatic land. The current fund sits at $1.94 million for the 2021-23 biennium, according to the DNR’s website.
The program was dramatically expanded in 2020 by the Washington State legislature in SB 6528, and gathers funding from boating fees and permits to allow the DNR, municipal ports, police departments and other local governments to hire contractors to clear the state’s waterways.
Mike Hogan, public affairs administrator for the Port of Bellingham, confirmed that while the vessel was technically under the jurisdiction of the Department of Natural Resources, the Port was able to leverage the Derelict Vessel Removal Program to remove the potentially hazardous vessel as soon as possible.
“It wasn’t on our property, but being good stewards and knowing the people in the community [wanting to salvage the vessel] we decided it had to be done,” Hogan said. “We had to get rid of the safety hazard and get it out of there.”
The Port of Bellingham did not comment on the identity of the owner of the boat, or whether they will be held liable for any damage caused by the sunken vessel.
“This is a classic example of what we don’t want to have happen,” Hogan said in reference to the boat running aground. “We just wanted to be proactive and get rid of it sooner rather than later.”
Hogan said that the remains of the sailboat will be either sold at auction or scrapped.
