Washingston State Seizes Abandoned Ship at Port Ludlow

The Washington Department of Natural Resources has seized a derelict ship that has been docked since October 1, 2012 at Port Ludlow.

Officials are deciding where on Puget Sound [pictured above] to tow the 180-foot ship so it can be scrapped in an environmentally safe manner.

The vessel has had its engines removed and there is no fuel onboard.

The state stepped in after VicMar Inc. of Tacoma was unable to carry out its plan to tow the ship to Mexico to be scrapped.

State officials had hoped the company would be successful, but cannot wait any longer to scrap the ship before it becomes more of a problem; they had three months. The department also gave the ship’s owner a month's notice in December to move the ship or it would take ownership, according to the Seattle Post Intelligencer.

VicMar’s president claims he has lost more than $100,000 on the project, which initially called for the ship to be scrapped in Mexico and sold as scrap metal on the Asian market. He estimated it would be worth $85,000 to $90,000. Now, he will be billed whatever it costs the state to scrap the ship; experts predict this will probably be in the six figures range.