The Association of Danish Marinas, FLID, is calling for a national register of leisure boats, after around 900 abandoned vessels turned up in Danish harbors last year.
FLID says abandoned boats are accumulating both on land and in the water at marinas across the country, and that the number is growing. As DR reports, a questionnaire answered by the marinas found roughly 2,000 abandoned boats over the past five years.
FLID chairman Bent Ole Jonsen says owners sometimes leave boats behind as scrap, or let them sit at anchor. He points to Sweden, which already has a register, and says it makes contacting owners far easier.
Kenneth Borum Kjærgaard, harbor master in Lemvig and a member of the FLID board, says the situation is developing into a problem. He links it to the rise in boat ownership during the corona crisis, adding that owners now tend to forget to check on their vessels.
Eva Thomsen from Jegindø, chair of the local sailing club, also wants a central register. Per DR, she says sailing into a marina with several wrecks, or sunken boats on the bottom, is not an attractive sight.
Rules before a boat can be removed
Harbor masters at several larger marinas told DR they enforce strict rules to remove ghost boats quickly. The boats must be advertised publicly, and owners must be contacted where possible. If that fails, they can be sold at auction, in some cases for as little as one krone.
According to DR, sunken boats have the highest priority when ghost vessels are cleared from Danish harbors. Many abandoned boats are also parked on land.
Skive Lystbådehavn currently holds two ghost boats, down from five or six a short time ago. Jan Stilling, chairman of Skive Søsports Havn, says the two remaining boats are unlikely to be seaworthy, and the owners owe berth rent.
Stilling notes that the boats occupy smaller berths at a time when leisure boats are getting larger. Removing a middle pile, he says, would allow two narrow berths to be merged into one wider space.
Minister asks maritime authority to look at it
A register would fall under Business Minister Martin Lidegaard of the Danish Social Liberal Party. In a written reply to DR, he says he views the possibility positively, and that he will ask the Danish Maritime Authority to examine the matter.
Lidegaard says he understands that abandoned boats are a nuisance in some harbors, for the environment, for the economy and for the eye. He adds that problems should be solved without imposing more paperwork than strictly necessary.
The minister says his goal is less trouble in the harbors and more time on the water. He also says the bill should land in the right places.
