Efforts to remove sunken, wrecked, derelict vessels from Sarasota Bay, following impacts from hurricanes Helen and Milton, are winding down.
High winds and storm surge left some boats submerged or adrift in local waters, creating hazards to navigation and the environment.
For months, state-contracted debris removal firms AshBritt and A-C-T Environmental & Infrastructure have been working to locate and extract storm-damaged vessels.
Bill Logan, Manatee County’s public information outreach manager, said May 8 that AshBritt completed its operations while A-C-T is in the final stages of removal, working out of Coquina South Boat Ramp. The county and state are coordinating on the work.
County environmental program manager Michael Solum told The Islander more than 125 vessels were extracted from county waters following the hurricanes.
The cleanup focused on three classifications of boats: lost vessels that broke free from moorings, abandoned vessels without identifiable owners and derelict vessels that are wrecked or inoperative.
The sunken vessels pose serious risks, including blocking navigation channels, damaging sensitive ecosystems, leaking fuel and other hazardous materials and scouring benthic habitats.
Local charter operators report improvements with the removals but some say submerged hazards remain.
“I haven’t seen any (vessels) get removed unless they were in the navigable waterways,” said Capt. Lance Plowman, owner of Florida Fishing Fleet, a four-boat inshore and offshore charter operation.
Plowman said he knew of inshore fishing guides “still hitting things that weren’t there before (the storms).”
But, he added, “Barge companies are still lingering in the area. So maybe those are next.”
Capt. Katie Tupin of Capt. Katie Scarlett Boat Tours in Cortez told The Islander: “Just after Helene, there must have been at least 40 boats from Beer Can Island all the way past Mar Vista. There’s no doubt they picked those up but there are still some left without hazard buoys. They’re in shallow water and hard to spot.”
Tupin estimated around 20 vessels still need to be removed from the water between Cortez and north Longboat Key.