21-05-2025
Nonprofit plans to remove 100 abandoned boats from Hampton Roads waterways
Abandoned vessels are a problem in Hampton Roads waterways, and this week a local environmental nonprofit is stepping in to help.
At least 100 abandoned or derelict boats are in the water in southeast Virginia, according to Lynnhaven River Now Executive Director Karen Forget. The group began removing several vessels in Willoughby Bay on Monday, and the goal is to tackle 100 vessels over the next year.
Forget said fiberglass boats became a big trend in the 1970s and 1980s, replacing many wooden boats on local waters. Now, many of those fiberglass boats have gone years without maintenance and are at the end of their lifespan, and owners end up abandoning them.
'There is really no good system in place for people who have a boat that no longer has any commercial value and really isn't seaworthy or usable any longer,' Forget said. 'I think a lot of boat owners just really don't know what to do. Some of them just abandon them. They anchor them someplace, and they leave the boat. Then it eventually drifts and it ends up on a shoreline.'
Though other groups have removed derelict boats from local waterways before, this initiative has received significant federal funding to help cover the cost. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Marine Debris Program has provided $2.9 million toward the project, and Lynnhaven River Now has also partnered with the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program, the Elizabeth River Project and others to coordinate the actual removals.
These boats can cause myriad environmental issues. Sometimes, boats end up in wetlands and scrape across an oyster bed or other kind of critical habitat. Some of the vessels also still contain cleaning chemicals and gasoline, which can leak into the water. Once they start to drift, or are pushed by a storm, they can become hard to track down, creating issues for navigation in the water.
'They're literally moving targets,' Forget said.
The first two boats that will be removed are near Willoughby Spit, Forget said, and both are creating issues for Navy helicopter operations. One is a sailboat that has sunk next to a seawall, with its mast sticking up out of the water. The other is a vessel that is partially jammed into a culvert that drains storm water off of Naval Station Norfolk. In total, Lynnhaven River Now is aware of at least 20 abandoned or derelict vessels in Willoughby Bay.
More than 300,000 pounds of hazardous debris have been removed from Hampton Roads waterways thanks to this nonprofit
Abandoned boats are a growing concern, state officials say. A Virginia Beach man is taking on the issue in local waters.
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The nonprofit has also marked other vessels for removal. After the removals in Willoughby Bay, there are six slated for the eastern branch of the Elizabeth River in Virginia Beach, two in Norfolk's Broad Creek and a 63-foot double-masted sailboat on the North Landing River. The sailboat — right by the Pungo Ferry Boat Ramp in Virginia Beach — is causing problems in the area's habitat and navigation.
Some cities have tried to crack down on the problem. Last year, Portsmouth City Council updated its code to strengthen laws against abandoned vessels. Now, citizens can be charged with a class 1 misdemeanor if a vessel is abandoned.
For each boat, Forget said, the team must do its due diligence before removing it from the water. Each owner must be tracked down, and with many boat sales going through unofficial channels or without a title exchanged, Forget said it can be a 'massive undertaking' to find a boat's owner. Then, the removal plan is reviewed by NOAA for adherence to the National Environmental Protection Act. After the NEPA review, it must then be approved by the Virginia State Historic Preservation Office. All of these steps take more than a year to complete, she said. The team submitted the first group of boats in one batch.
Forget said the nonprofit is also gathering survey data on how to prevent boats being abandoned in the first place. In some cases, she said an elderly person can't do the maintenance, or young people inherit a boat they never wanted. Others have intentionally sunk their boats after it cost too much to fix or manage upkeep. Using the survey data, the project will inform the development of Virginia's first abandoned and derelict vessel prevention and removal program.
'When you hear all these stories, you can start to try to put together why this problem exists, why it's gotten so bad,' Forget said. 'We don't want to come back in three years and take another 100 boats out of the water. Our intention is to clean up as much as we can, of the ones that we can identify right now, and then help to develop some programs to prevent this problem from continuing.'
An abandoned boat reading 'Virginia Beach, VA' sits at the Willoughby Marina in Norfolk on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (Kendall Warner / The Virginian-Pilot) An abandoned boat sits at the Willoughby Marina in Norfolk on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (Kendall Warner / The Virginian-Pilot) Marine life swims around the mast of a sunken sailboat at the Willoughby Boat Ramp in Norfolk on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (Kendall Warner / The Virginian-Pilot) The mast of a sunken sailboat pokes out of the water at the Willoughby Boat Ramp in Norfolk on Tuesday, May 20, 2025.(Kendall Warner / The Virginian-Pilot) The mast of a sunken sailboat pokes out of the water at the Willoughby Boat Ramp in Norfolk on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (Kendall Warner / The Virginian-Pilot) An abandoned boat sits at the Willoughby Marina in Norfolk on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (Kendall Warner / The Virginian-Pilot) Show Caption1 of 7A notice from the City of Norfolk sticks on the mast of a sunken sailboat at the Willoughby Boat Ramp in Norfolk on Tuesday, May 20, 2025 (Kendall Warner / The Virginian-Pilot)Expand
Eliza Noe,
