As the shrimp boat is 68 ton but the U.S. Coast Guard registration information lists it as being 74 feet long and this keep the shrimpers stranded who express their anger over the authorities about its mismanagement. John Baker, whose dock narrowly avoided damage from the hulking vessel, said that the boat is in terrible shape and it is listing to port quite a bit.
Chatham County Commissioner Helen Stone said it might be time to look at what the county can do to keep such vessels from mooring so close to residential property. She informed that there is a danger of a boat breaking loose and plowing into someone’s property. The state Department of Natural Resources’ Coastal Resources Division in Brunswick learned Monday that fishing boats were mooring at length on the Vernon.
According to Josh Noble, the division’s compliance and enforcement coordinator, the illegal mooring is something we’re going to have to deal with. The boat owners could not be reached for comment. As Coast Guard and Savannah-Chatham Marine Patrol officers responded to the Dammit, they also returned later in the day to the Miss Peaches.
Dana Rutland, owner of Towboat US Savannah, which has been assisting with recovery efforts, opined that several Wilmington Island residents reported seeing an oil slick trailing away from the vessel, which ran aground high in the marsh in last Saturday’s thunderstorms. Its hull is cracked, and the deck is beginning to separate and can’t be floated out, said Rutland.
