Husky Salvage and Towing crew were patching up the hull of a yacht yesterday morning in preparation to move the vessel, which ran aground on rocks near the Queen Elizabeth II Park some five weeks ago.
The company was contacted by the Virgin Islands Shipping Registry, the territory’s official receiver of wrecks, several weeks ago about the derelict vessel, said Husky owner Kevin Rowlette.
The owner of the sailboat, which apparently came loose from a nearby mooring, is deceased.
Under current law, government has to file a lawsuit to recoup costs of removing a vessel or cleaning up a spill in the sea, but environmental legislation being formed now would call for stiff fines for anyone who damages reefs by anchoring or running aground.
Another piece of legislation, the proposed Disaster Management Act 2011, would give the director of the VISR explicit power to issue notices to require owners to remove “any vessel or other object sunk, stranded or abandoned in the national waters.”
It would also establish fines of up to $10,000 for a vessel owner who doesn’t comply with a removal order. Although the bill was introduced in the HOA in October, it hasn’t been passed.
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