Derelict vessel recycling program kicks off in Port Townsend on Monday

Boat to be stripped and crushed at Boat Haven

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.

________

Reporter Peter Segall can be reached at peter.segall@peninsuladailynews.com.

More in News

Etta Street construction to take up to eight weeks in downtown Sequim

A piping and pavement project along the Etta Street alleyway… Continue reading

Michaela Christiansen, 14, left, and Pen DeBord, 14, both of Port Angeles, use a cider press to crush fresh apples into juice and pulp during Saturday’s Applestock celebration in Sequim. The event, a benefit for several area charities, featured food, music, crafts and games in the orchard at Williams Manor B&B/Vacation Rental. Applestock 2023 beneficiaries were the Salvation Army Food Bank, Angel Tree Christmas, Coats for Kids and area food banks. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Pressing apples

Michaela Christiansen, 14, left, and Pen DeBord, 14, both of Port Angeles,… Continue reading

Emily Matthiessen / Olympic Peninsula News Group
The Sequim Logging Show, seen in May 2023, will operate next year as its own nonprofit organization to seek insurance coverage separate from the Sequim Irrigation Festival. Organizers of both the festival and show say it was a pragmatic decision and is similar to what the festival did in late 2017 after leaving the umbrella of the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce.
Logging Show to be separate from festival

New nonprofit formed, but event will continue

Sequim downtown lot to be prepped for redesign with three potential concepts

City purchased Centennial Place property in 2013 for 100th anniversary

Head-on collision injures five people

A head-on collision on U.S. Highway 101 Saturday sent… Continue reading

One hurt when driver falls asleep, hits tree

A driver fell asleep behind the wheel of a… Continue reading

Homecoming Royalty are, from left, Chimacum High School King Gary Zambor and Queen Julia Breitweg, and Port Townsend High School King Ken Llotse-Rowell and Queen Tadu Dollarhide as they were introduced to the spectators at Memorial Field in Port Townsend on Friday. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
Homecoming court

Homecoming Royalty are, from left, Chimacum High School King Gary Zambor and… Continue reading

Port Angeles School District student scores inching up

Board hears results of state assessments, approves teacher contract

Most Read