Throughout the U.S. and its territories, thousands of abandoned and derelict vessels clutter our harbors and waterways.

These vessels, abandoned for a variety of reason, are often left to deteriorate in place. Generally unsightly, some abandoned vessels pose a significant threat to the environment, human health, and navigational safety as an obstruction to navigation, either through vessel deterioration, physical damage to the surrounding ecosystems, through the proliferation of marine debris, or the threat of discharge of oil and/or hazardous substances into the marine environment. During the 2011 annual National Response Team (NRT) conference, a session on abandoned vessels was held where representatives from NOAA and USCG gave presentations. Based on issues presented and discussed during the session, the NRT Executive Secretariat agreed on the need to identify interagency best practices when responding to abandoned vessels. As a result, the USCG and NOAA were tasked with developing a guidance document for Federal On-scene Coordinators to address this growing problem. The report was completed in late April 2014, and was posted today (May 8, 2014) on the National Response Team website.

For more information, contact Doug.Helton@noaa.gov.

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