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This is a big problem that needs big innovation to solve (and lots of capital). The issue is, states are struggling to dispose of boats and ships that become abandoned. They usually become abandoned when boat owners die or even just when the cost of maintenance becomes too much to handle. Floating on their own in oceans and harbors, these boats present lots of problems. The most obvious one is property damage, where they can smash into other docked boats, people actively boating (especially at night), or simply the shore. It also encourages unwitting adventurers to explore, unaware of how dangerous they (and the ocean) can be, and in one case, two people died trying to reach this boat in 2017 via a skiff. This is a 192-ton World War 2 tugboat floating off the coast of Alaska with nowhere to go. Sadly, it's just going to be dropped to the bottom of the ocean floor about 200 miles offshore in 2021.
So what are the current costs and options?
You could haul it to a landfill - but this isn't an eco-friendly long-term solution. For a boat of this size, it would cost the state government up to $400,000.
You could also just sink it... haul it a few hundred miles offshore and let it drop after stripping it of trash and toxic materials like lead paint - also known as scuttling. Again, not a great long-term solution as toxic materials will inevitably end up in the ocean as companies won't see repercussions for skimping on the job. And that's what will be done to this particular boat.
The size of the problem is enormous. And I'm not just talking about the size of the boat. For example, in the next few years, Alaska is going to have over 3,000 vessels that are between 30 and 60 feet long and over 45 years old that are abandoned and written off as being unsafe and unusable.
Each state on the West Coast would need more than $20 million to solve their problem of abandoned boats and ships.
These abandoned boats create environmental costs, state government/tax costs, and lots of hazards when they are just ignored. This is a real problem that needs big thinking and real solutions. And it's not going away any time soon.
Thinking creatively, how could you dispose of this boat for less than $100,000, or even turn a profit?
So what are the current costs and options?
You could haul it to a landfill - but this isn't an eco-friendly long-term solution. For a boat of this size, it would cost the state government up to $400,000.
You could also just sink it... haul it a few hundred miles offshore and let it drop after stripping it of trash and toxic materials like lead paint - also known as scuttling. Again, not a great long-term solution as toxic materials will inevitably end up in the ocean as companies won't see repercussions for skimping on the job. And that's what will be done to this particular boat.
The size of the problem is enormous. And I'm not just talking about the size of the boat. For example, in the next few years, Alaska is going to have over 3,000 vessels that are between 30 and 60 feet long and over 45 years old that are abandoned and written off as being unsafe and unusable.
Each state on the West Coast would need more than $20 million to solve their problem of abandoned boats and ships.
These abandoned boats create environmental costs, state government/tax costs, and lots of hazards when they are just ignored. This is a real problem that needs big thinking and real solutions. And it's not going away any time soon.
Thinking creatively, how could you dispose of this boat for less than $100,000, or even turn a profit?
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