Derelict vessel session heads to Key Largo

Derelict vessel session

heads to Key Largo

BY TERRY SCHMIDA

The stubborn issue of how to deal with derelict, or “at risk” vessels will be the subject of a state session and open meeting sponsored by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC) set for 2:30 p.m. Aug. 13, at the Murray E. Nelson Government and Cultural Center in Key Largo.

The meeting will be one of five held around the state, following a survey, completed in December, regarding “anchoring of non-liveaboard vessels” outside approved public mooring facilities drew nearly 12,000 responses, including 600-plus from the Keys.

The hearing also comes on the heels of an early July, FWC-sponsored gathering held in Tallahassee, that was attended by Sheriff Rick Ramsay and a delegation of other county government representatives.

Attempts were made during the last legislative session to address the issue of the vessels, which pose a serious threat to maritime navigation, and carry the risk of both property damage and serious bodily injury. Those efforts, however, went nowhere, during the much-derided and rancorous session.

During the period from June 2014 though May of this year, the county spent over $150,000 in Boating Improvement Fund cash to rid the area of derelict vessels, but the problem is expected to continue, for a variety of reasons.

Among the solutions proposed during the Tallahassee meeting, one held particular appeal to Sheriff Ramsay.

“I like the idea of requiring the boat’s owner and the buyer to both go to the tax collector’s office at the same time, and registering the boat in the buyer’s name right away,” Ramsay said. “It might be a little more inconvenient to the seller, but this way the county will know who owns these crafts immediately, and who it is we have to contact, should the need arise.”

The sheriff added that such a move would circumvent current regulations that make it easy for owners to dispose of unwanted vessels by signing them over to people with no interest – or ability – to provide for their upkeep.

“Some owners will find a homeless person and sell their boat to them for 10 bucks,” Ramsey said. “They write up a contract on the back of a napkin, and that’s the only paperwork they have to show us. It’s never registered, and when we have to deal with it, the seller tells us he sold it. With the Tilly boat, [which sank in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary in 2014,] they knew the guy they sold it to had no ability to take care of it. Then there’s the sales tax not being collected with those kinds of transactions.”

Currently, vessel sellers are required by Florida law to notify the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles that they have sold their vessel within 30 days of the sale. Failure to do so can result in criminal charges to the seller.