It’s not particularly unusual to find abandoned boats along South Carolina’s coast, but then there’s the one on Bohicket Creek near Seabrook Island — a 120-foot long, welded steel former Navy minesweeper stuck in seagrass and pluff mud.
Beside it is a 30-foot cabin cruiser, both owned by the same man, authorities say, who has been unreachable for more than the year the boats have been in the creek, not too far from the North Edisto River.
So far, the boats are not leaching chemicals or fuel into the waterway, according to a test done by an agency associated with the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. The March 2023 tests done at the request of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources said no contamination was found.
“It could be an ecological disaster. It wouldn’t take much,” said Andrew Wunderley, executive director of Charleston Waterkeeper, a nonprofit founded in 2009 to protect Charleston’s waterways.
The Navy ship was sold by the General Services Administration March 12, 2021 for $81,600, Mary Simms, GSA’s regional public affairs officer said. She said the agency does not reveal buyer’s names.
The Coast Guard has been aware of the vessel being in South Carolina waters since 2021. Lt. Michael Allen said, and it is checked periodically.
He said if contaminants are found, the Coast Guard would take emergency remediation.
“The owner has made minimal effort to comply with orders from the Coast Guard and…
