Tracking abandoned boats across USA

Created in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Debris Program and the BoatUS Foundation, a database has been developed that will identify the locations of abandoned and derelict vessels (ADVs) across the USA, freely associated states, and U.S. territories and track their removal.

This national database will allow visitors to report abandoned and derelict vessels on their coastlines, allowing the issue to be better understood on a national scale with the support of the public. Eventually, this database will be able to track the impacts of removal and prevention efforts by showing how the number of ADVs across the country may one day decrease.

Abandoned and derelict vessels can crush or smother sensitive plants and corals, leach fuel and other pollutants into the water, threaten safe navigation, and contribute to economic losses. Removing ADVs is a costly effort, often averaging more than $24,000 to remove a single boat.

“When we finally understand the scope of the problem, communities all over the country will be better able to remove abandoned and derelict vessels on their local coastlines,” said BoatUS Foundation Director of Outreach Alanna Keating.

“With the information the database provides, they will be able to know exactly where they need to dedicate resources, whether that be towards removing vessels or preventing them from becoming abandoned in the first place.”

Details: https://boatus.org/adv-database