The Canadian Coast Guard has issued its first-ever fine for a hazardous abandoned vessel.
Ryan Brackenbury was fined $15,000 on June 27 for failing to comply with coast guard directions to remove Akoo, a 27-foot white-hulled cabin cruiser aground in Cadboro Bay that has been determined to pose a hazard to the marine environment and public safety.
Brackenbury has 30 days to pay the penalty or apply to the Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada for a review hearing.
Paul Barrett, regional superintendent of the Canadian Coast Guard’s compliance and enforcement branch, established in April, said he hopes the owner appeals. “It will allow us to test both our rigour, our casework, and really establish that case law related to the Wrecked, Abandoned, or Hazardous Vessels Act,” he said.
The federal government announced last week that the coast guard will fining owners of hazardous boats or wrecks.
The coast guard can write fines up to $50,000 per violation, and additional fines could be administered daily until the violation ceases. For corporations, fines could be even higher, with a daily fine limit of $250,000.
If found guilty in court, corporations could be fined $6 million and individuals could face fines of $1 million and up to three years of prison, though no case so far has gone before the courts.
Barrett said the coast guard usually gives boat owners about a week to comply with directions.
“If they fail to achieve what’s in those directions, that’s where other compliance tools may come into effect,” he said.
The Wrecked, Abandoned, or Hazardous Vessels Act came into effect in 2019, and made abandoning boats illegal in Canada.
The act enshrines into federal law the international agreements Canada committed to in 2007 at the Nairobi International Convention on the Removal of Wrecks, putting the responsibility of removal costs on vessel owners.
Before then, there were few consequences for abandoning vessels.
“People would just abandon the vessel when they no longer wanted it and they couldn’t sell it,” Barrett said, adding that there are “pockets literally everywhere” of abandoned boats along B.C.’s coast, though most cases are on the south Island and Fraser River.
In the capital region, hazardous vessels are typically found near Brentwood Bay, Sidney and Cadboro Bay.
On the West Coast, the coast guard is monitoring about 1,500 vessels that have been reported to have been wrecked, abandoned or hazardous. About 350 new cases are added every year, Barrett said.
Every vessel begins degrading the moment it enters the water. “If somebody is not properly taking care of it, it will inevitably end poorly,” he said.
The federal government has said that about 500 boats have been removed through its Oceans Protection Plan since 2016.
It spent about $4.5 million remediating these vessels in 2022.
This year, the coast guard has $1 million for remediation, which can range from simply putting a containment boom around the vessel to a full salvage and disposal by contractors.
The coast guard also recently contracted Oak Bay-based Barnacle Systems Inc. to help remotely monitor abandoned and derelict boats across the country with specialized equipment.
Before the enactment of the law, annual funding had hovered around $350,000, Barrett said.
Now, he and his recently formed team of 13 are tasked with ensuring compliance on the West Coast.
Due to the size of his team, Barrett said he is counting on the rest of the coast guard, as well as tips from the public, to help with the tracking and reporting.
The team also works with Indigenous Coastal Guardians to help with compliance. The K’ómoks Guardian Watchmen are currently helping to issue a direction to a vessel owner close to the nation, Barrett said.
“Making sure that owners are responsible and liable for things is important. I don’t think the average taxpayer wants to be paying to deal with somebody else’s problem,” he said.
The vast majority of hazardous vessels belong to individual owners, ranging from 40-foot commercial fishing vessels to 25-foot pleasure craft.
For the older wrecks, it can be difficult to track down the owners, as many of them are not required to be registered with the Canadian Registry of Vessels.
“People might sell their boat for $1 to some other guy and just write the agreements on the back of the napkin,” Barrett said.
But not all hazardous vessels are abandoned playthings of casual mariners. A smaller portion of the vessels are also being used for shelter.
Brackenbury was likely living on the Akoo when it ran aground, Barrett said.
“Of course, we have to be sensitive around the social issues that can be connected to those cases,” Barrett said, adding that the housing market in places such as Victoria and Vancouver can be expensive and “quite difficult” for some people.
John Roe, founder and director of the Dead Boats Disposal Society, said he’s in total support of the Canadian Coast Guard.
“I do feel sorry for him, but somebody has to be held responsible,” Roe said of the vessel’s owner.
Roe, who has been pulling abandoned boats and cars out of waters and forests for close to three decades and calls himself the head “dead boat hunter,” said the boating industry needs to be part of the solution.
“Years ago, we had this problem with cars being abandoned all over the Island, all over the backwoods,” Roe said.
That’s no longer the case because of legislation.
According to the Transportation Ministry, if an unoccupied vehicle is not blocking traffic, police will post a notice on it advising that the vehicle will be towed within 72 hours if not removed.
The RCMP obtain the vehicle identification number to find out who the last registered owner is, and if the vehicle was stolen or involved in a crime. If the vehicle was linked to a crime, the police handle everything from there.
It the vehicle is not implicated in a crime, a double-registered letter is sent to the owner, by either the RCMP or the ministry. Owners are told that they must claim their vehicle within 14 days and pay for the towing and storage charges. If that doesn’t happen, the ministry will dispose of the vehicle.
When the owner of an abandoned vehicle is unknown, the vehicle is held for up to 14 days, then transferred to a scrapyard to cover the costs of towing, storage and disposal.
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