Boats considered abandoned on Allegheny River can be claimed by salvagers
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Mister Rogers might say it's not a beautiful day along the riverfront thanks to a neighborhood of vacant watercraft forming on the North Shore.
According to Capt. Evan Clark, "They're sometimes abandoned, sometimes they're left here because people don't want to pay docking fees, they don't have a place for their boat, and they don't get removed off this wall very often."
Clark is a member of Three Rivers Waterkeeper and those are some of the conditions and circumstances he says result in abandoned boats ending up tied up and left to their fate on rivers. Removing them would seem easy. It's not.
"There's a lot of factors at play with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and the property owner," Clark said.
State law says if any boat is left unclaimed for 30 days it can be considered abandoned. Anyone can apply for a salvage title, and if the old boat owner doesn't want the boat a new title could be issued.
"Nobody wants these boats anymore. They're usually in such rough conditions that they have a negative value," Clark said.
Despite that, Mike Holtz and his son were checking out these boats. Holtz said he'd take a shot at rehabbing them.
"They say a boat is a hole in the water that you pour money into," he said. "I would take it and float it down to the little marina on the end of Neville Island. ... and fix it, run it."
River Rescue, the Coast Guard and the Sports and Exhibition Authority say it's not their problem. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is looking into these latest ghost boats and what if anything can be done.