Port of Newport to Remove Sunken Vessel

by Brian Bahouth

On June 23rd, the Port of Newport learned that a privately owned fishing vessel, the Ashtella Rhelynn, had sunk at Port Dock 7. On Wednesday, July 16th, the Port Commission held a special virtual meeting to address the all but abandoned boat. Aaron Bretz is the Port’s director of operations and described the situation for Commissioners.

“As the boat sat on the bottom, it has begun to silt in a little bit, and it’s moved so that it’s now slightly underneath one of the fingers, the adjacent finger dock next to it, and then also the bow is up under the main dock, so during really low tides, it’s starting to contact this boat, and it’s damaged a (dock) finger already, and we’re concerned about it breaking the main dock as well during low tides.”

The Coast Guard assessed the vessel and made the owner aware that they are responsible for any pollution associated with the sinking. The owner made a brief attempt to mitigate pollution but did not sustain the effort. The Coast Guard then employed FDS Salvage to remove fuel from the boat. Since then, the vessel owner has been unresponsive to the Port of Newport’s queries.

The Port engaged a local diver to inspect the wreck, but the company determined that raising the vessel was beyond their capabilities. The Port contacted FDS Salvage to conduct an underwater inspection and provide a cost estimate to remove and dispose of the vessel.

The vessel owner had claimed that he had insurance under a policy that was listed under the previous owner’s name. But the policy was valid only under the previous owner, so ultimately, the owner did not have insurance to clean up the wreck. FDS Salvage estimates the recovery will cost $325,000. The Port’s insurance company has agreed to pay for the recovery up to $250,000. According to Aaron Bretz, the Port is looking to the Oregon Department of State Lands to make up the roughly $75,000 gap. Bretz added that the Port has filed a second claim to help recover costs.

“I’ve entered into two insurance claims. One is to remove the vessel. That’s, what the $250,000 is for. I’ve added an additional claim for property damage because of the damage that’s been done so far to the dock,” Bretz said at the special Port Commission meeting. “There’s a potential that the rest of the $75,000 may get covered by that second claim, but we’re going to have to successfully win that argument.”

The recovery plan is confounded and made more expensive due to the poor structural integrity of the wreck, distance to the shoreline, and the amount of extra debris that is in and around the boat. The boat sank because the owner had ballasted the vessel heavily to starboard to conduct maintenance on the port side at or near the waterline. The vessel was loaded with extra weight in the form of marine equipment and other gear and debris collected from around the marina.

At Wednesday’s special meeting, the Commission voted unanimously to declare an emergency – an action that would expedite the vessel’s removal – and engage FDS Salvage to remove the Ashtella Rhelynn. Port executive director Paula Miranda said Port staff members have had to occasionally deal with angry boat owners when asking to validate current insurance, but Miranda said this incident has emboldened her staff to ensure owners carry adequate insurance.

“I just want to reiterate the importance of having insurance and the fact that we started really going after folks that do not have insurance and trying to remove them out of the Port. People get upset with us, but exactly for this reason here. All it takes is one day. At this point in time we are not going to be accepting any moorage agreement without insurance.”