It’s cleanup day for the Miami Police Marine Patrol unit.
“Kind of a dual-purpose cleanup, we’re focusing on the environment but also removing a navigational hazard out there,” Major Alex Valdes explained.
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A team of divers and other members of the unit left the dock at Dinner Key and headed out into Biscayne Bay, looking for debris to remove, and they found plenty.
“We’ll be removing any debris or any trash that’s unwanted, right, so it helps out the environment, helps out the marine life, but it also helps out the boaters as well,” Valdes said.
The team quickly zeroed in on an abandoned, capsized pontoon boat.
I asked a boater at the dock what he thought of the police effort to remove derelict vessels from the waters.
“I think it’s a great thing, about time they do something about it, it’s been too long,” said Alex Gort as he hauled his boat out onto his trailer.
The pontoon boat was floating just below the surface, an obvious danger to boaters.
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“So after sunset, before sunrise, can’t see anything out here, it’s pitch black, so it causes a navigational hazard to other boat operators that do not know that this vessel is underneath the water,” Lt. Corey Couto said.
“You can’t see ‘em never, not even half the time, you can never see ‘em,” Gort said, speaking about abandoned boats and boat parts.
He said the bay is littered with them. Using a lift bag inflated with air, the Miami Police team raised the pontoon boat up and was able to tow it to the dock. In an average year, state and local authorities remove 600 abandoned boats across Florida.
“Just alone in the city of Miami, we do have a major derelict vessel issue,” Couto said. “We have about 23 derelict vessels that we currently are tracking.”
It’s not a simple process to remove an abandoned boat. Police first have to find the owner and determine if the vessel is, indeed, abandoned. If you see what you suspect is a derelict vessel, report it to police to get the removal process started.
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