Leisure on Water - Call for rules to stop old boats being dumped

Science & Environment Science & Environment: In The News
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There are estimated to be about 1,000,000 of all types in the UK, including kayaks, with it costing more than £3,000 to scrap larger vessels. It has led to warnings of a “tidal wave of abandonments”, which could devastate marine life. Huge quantities"of tiny fibreglass shards used to make boats have been found in oysters and mussels.

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) said a lack of end-of-life regulation and disposal costs can lead to boats being dumped, and it was looking at ways to tackle the problem.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said it would be working with other countries to map the scale of the issue and develop guidance to improve the problem.

Llangwm boat

There are currently no end-of-life boat regulations in the same way as there is legislation for cars

Paddleboards and surfboards containing fibreglass are also currently unrecyclable and could pose a danger to marine life if dumped.

Dismantling boats can be a very complicated process, involving getting rid of oils, chemicals and plastics, before you even get to the hull - layers of polyester resin that can be mixed with balsa wood and foam.

Luke Edney of Boatbreakers, one of the UK’s few disposal firms, believes there could be “tidal wave of abandonments” in the next 15 years.

“There are too many boats and not enough people, and they are unrecyclable at the moment,” he said.

End-of life-vehicle regulations mean people may get £50 for scrapping a car - but Mr Edney said getting rid of a boat will cost about £100-per-foot, meaning £3,000 for a 30ft (9m) vessel.

Llangwm boat

The £5,000-a-year fee to leave a 25ft (7.5m) yacht in some harbours is also a cost some people are reluctant to pay for an ageing boat.

Llangwm boat
The demographic of people with boats is usually men aged 45 and up, meaning often people get too old to use them.

Llangwm boatI
During the pandemic, many boats were left for up to two years

While those on canals are regulated, he described it as a “free for all” on the coast, suggesting a tax every time a boat is bought or sold as a possible solution to fund recycling.

Boatbreakers has more than 30,000 Facebook followers who it sells parts to, but only “scratches the surface” on what needs to be dealt with.

Truro Harbour Authority in Cornwall spent £75,000 disposing of an old fishing boat and £50,000 getting rid of another.

In Pembrokeshire, the local authority said it had no involvement in dealing with boats, while in Llangwm, councillors were unsure about ownership of those left in the area.

Llangwm boats

There are a couple of boat-dumps on the river near me - there used to be a few dozen but now there are a hundred or more - unsightly, dangerous and roped off by the local council … :scream:

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Yes, I can see they’re getting to be a nuisance, and dangerous too. Owners need to be made responsible for safer disposable

But visually, they’re rather lovely aren’t they? There’s something very appealing about old boats, nostalgia and pathos and the muted colours and the settings

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Well, yes … except when there’s a million of them and they’re a threat to marine life … and a hazard for human beings … :037:

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I didn’t realise that there was no regulations re scrapped boats around the coast.
I think there should be.
Our sailing boat is registered in our name and has a unique number, a bit like a car has a VIN, and it is stamped in different places on the boat. I assumed that if it ever sank or became unseaworthy, we would be liable for the safe recovery and disposal of it. I’m sure our insurance has a section about recovery and salvage liabilities etc.

Reading that article, it makes the point that there is legislation relating to canal boats - although this is true, and the CRT have powers to remove unlicensed boats from the canal and charge the owners, when we travel on our canal boat, we often pass rusty old narrowboats, which have sunk long ago and been decaying for decades along the canal banks - some of them look like they are former work boats belonging to British Waterways! (Now the Canal & River Trust)

As for the danger to marine life, I was just thinking about this a few days ago.
We were anchored in a Greek bay we visited Years ago and I noticed there is still the wreck of a Turkish Gulet which was there last time we were here.
I was looking at the netting on the front of the Gulet, which is still intact, and wondering if any marine creatures ever get caught in it and why nobody has removed it yet - it is in less than 4m of water, so I can’t imagine it would be that difficult to remove - at least most of the hull is wood but when it eventually rots, there’s probably stuff on the masts you wouldn’t want in the water.

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Aren’t sunken ships a haven for wildlife? When ever there is a vessel being scrapped the local councils are battling each other to have it sunk off their bit of coast for divers to explore and as a home for marine life. Why don’t they just tow them out to sea and sink them?

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People opposite me now have a boat. It is on a long trailer, at the moment parked outside a house showing a disability notice, requesting people not to park there. Together with the huge black van they have, I would say they are taking up at least three parking spaces. It is just a boat, with an outboard motor, no cabin, nothing making it special. I expect it will stay parked there, all year round, taking up valuable room. With many households owning 2-3 cars, space is already at a premium.

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I would report that parking issue to your local council, your county council, the Highways Agency and the police - but not all at once - give each of them a chance to provide a satisfactory answer … :slightly_smiling_face:

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@Bruce , So do you recomend everyone with with an old boat( probably
made of fibreglass!) take them and, sink them at sea Brucy ??
You are no better than a fly tipper then !!
Donkeyman! :-1::roll_eyes::roll_eyes::-1:

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Remind me Assman. For how many years did Britain dump all its rubbish in the North Sea?

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@Bruce , Yeah. your right Brucy, we did, but that was mainly pre plastic age ?
We still pump sewage out there in fact, but being bio degradeable the
ocean can re-process it into beneficial products ??
However. there are limits to what nature can cope with, with 7 billion
inhabitants and still rising, all with growing ’ ‘needs’ vwe will soon be
in in a system overload situation, if we are not allready??
Still, l am sure you know this allready ??
Donkeyman! :roll_eyes::roll_eyes:

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Why don`t the owners of the smaller boats offer them to the council,they make lovely flower beds on grass verges.
There are quite a few in Devon and Cornwall,and they really do look lovely.
Your neighbour sounds very selfish Jazzi.

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Not sure what they could do about it.

The problem we have, down this road and a few neighbouring, are the sets of boulders forming traffic calming measures. These alone take up valuable spaces, and I have them right outside my house and opposite. But they do more than that. On several corners are huge mounds. Reversing is a nightmare as the driver needs to be aware of them, and two cars can’t pass each other, so if we face one coming the other way, one has to back up.

I know one resident was going to try and get them taken out, and I said I’d support him. Not heard any more.

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Many of my neighbours are selfish.

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Just taken this.

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With so many cars being drive in the UK, parking has become a nightmare … :scream:

AFAIK, any vehicle that “parks” on a street must be licenced - a boat on a trailer isn’t, so try your local council first - send them a polite email enquiry, asking if it’s legal to permanently park a boat on a street, and go from there.

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I must admit I did chuckle when I saw the boat, hardly more than a tinny. There’s boat that occasionally parks near my place, if I remember I will take a pics when it is next there. It’s quite legal to park as far as I know, trailers are registered here and have their own number plate (like my camper). Actually it is not illegal to park an unregistered vehicle on the street anyway it is only illegal to drive them.

BTW I visited a friend in Exeter when I was last there and she lived in a terrace house where everybody parked on the street I was very impressed with her parking skills as she manoeuvred her car in and out of spaces with about a 250mm gap front and back. I couldn’t do it.

In NSW it is actually illegal to park closer than 1 metre though the law is rarely enforced except when the police are having a purge on bikie gangs when they book every bike parked in a row for being too close.

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Bruce, as I pointed out, because of multiple car ownership house holds, and the sets of concrete blocks, we do struggle with parking. Some people, coming home late in the evening, often have to go elsewhere. I face that when I go to my writing group on Tuesdays.

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I live near a river and the sea but I’ve never seen a boat parked up like that … :astonished:

If I did, I’d report it to my local council.

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I’ll wait. See if some other resident decides to. I have enough on my plate with the noisy lot next door.

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I know exactly what you mean Jazzi.
We have some right selfish neighbours.
All about me me me me .