Shipwrecked

According to a recent New York Times article titled, "Boats Too Costly to Keep Are Littering Coastlines", it would appear that the current economic woes are having an impact on areas of the U.S. coastline. Many coastal areas are finding boat owners are deliberately abandoning their boats because they can no longer afford the costly nature of boating. In response to the increasing number of derelict boats, some states are working on writing laws to make owners who abandon their boats be handle responsible. Maj. Paul R. Quellette of the Florida and Wildlife Conservation Commission summed it up in saying, “Our waters have become dumping grounds. It’s got to the point where something has to be done.”

One option that some boat owners have used to get from out from under the expense of their depreciating boat is to make the sinking of their vessel look like an accident. This enables the owner to escape the payments on a vessel they are hopelessly upside down on. A San Diego insurance investigator noted that his caseload has nearly tripled in the past year. These abandoned vessels are a poignant symbol of our shipwrecked economy.