BoatUS Foundation calls on boaters to take action on abandoned vessels this boating season

BoatUS Foundation press release

This summer, the BoatUS Foundation is urging boaters and coastal residents to help address the issue of abandoned and derelict vessels (ADVs) by reporting them through the nation’s only and first-of-its-kind national abandoned vessel database.

Built to turn individual sightings into collective action, each report strengthens a national understanding of the issue, empowering communities, agencies and advocates to identify risks, prioritize removals, and accelerate efforts to keep waterways clean.

Abandoned boats cause significant damage to waterways, crushing seagrass and coral habitats, leaking fuel and pollutants, blocking navigation channels, and putting other boaters at risk. With removal costs averaging $24,000 or more depending on the size, location and condition of the vessel, identifying where they are is a critical first step to getting them out of the water.

"Boaters now have an easy way to take action when they encounter an abandoned vessel,” said Alanna Keating, director of outreach for the BoatUS Foundation. "By reporting a vessel, a boater is taking the first step to help give communities and agencies the information they need to prioritize cleanups and stop the problem before it grows.”

To report an abandoned or derelict vessel, boaters can visit https://boatus.org/database. Once on the site, users can upload an optional photo, log the date and time of the sighting, answer a brief set of safety and vessel-related questions, and pinpoint the vessel’s exact location on an interactive map.

The database is part of BoatUS Foundation’s national initiative to remove hundreds of ADVs from coastal waterways, supported by a 2023 award from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric (NOAA) marine debris program. This initiative also supports targeted ADV removals in eight states and territories, as well as a national summit on sustainable disposal solutions for ADVs, called “Turning the Tide Summit”. 

More about the BoatUS Foundation: BoatUS Foundation is supporting projects that were selected through their nationally competitive grant program for the removal of abandoned and derelict vessels throughout coastal and marine areas of the U.S., including the Great Lakes, U.S. territories, and Freely Associated States. This project is supported by a 2023 award from the NOAA marine debris program. In an effort to help educate and prevent future ADVs, the foundation also created a national ADV database to track the scope of the challenge and measure success, document ADV prevention and removal activities to share with the public, and support a national dialogue and education efforts on boating-related debris disposal.