DPNR Helpless as Uninsured Vessels Remain Abandoned Post-Storm, Facing $200,000 Cleanup Bill

DPNR struggles to remove derelict boats left by Tropical Storm Ernesto, facing funding challenges and bureaucratic hurdles as uninsured owners abandon their responsibilities.

Three months after the passage of then-Tropical Storm Ernesto, the V.I. Department of Planning and Natural Resources still has not removed the abandoned and derelict vessels left in the territory’s waters. Marlon Hibbert, director of DNPR’s Division of Coastal Zone Management, provided an update on the division’s efforts during a meeting of the Committee on Homeland Security, Justice, and Public Safety on Tuesday. He informed senators that after the storm, fifteen vessels had washed ashore, prompting assessments from DPNR’s law enforcement officers to identify the boats’ owners.

Seven of those owners were immediately identified by the department, and three days after the storm had passed, a press release was issued advising all owners of “their responsibility to remove the vessels from the shoreline within seven days, or they would be considered storm-related debris,” Mr. Hibbert testified. Since then, an additional two owners have come forward, with one having since removed their vessel. Remaining are “five vessels in St. Thomas and one on St. Croix to be removed by the department,” shared Mr. Hibbert. The seventh will be removed by the owner, as the vessel is insured.