Rotten Hulks

[beancounter]

Whilst enjoying a (somewhat blustery) walk alongside the River Deben yesterday, we passed quite a few craft that could only be described as hulks. Indeed, the further north we headed from Woodbridge, the more it resembled a boat graveyard. My wife asked a very logical question - while these boats are decaying and breaking up, they must surely constitute a hazard to navigation. Where does responsibilty lie to prevent damage to other boats, given that they seem to have been abandoned? Would it be local authorities, owners of the various moorings etc?I didn't know the answer, so can anyone enlighten us?

cheers, John

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[VirgoVoyager]

I am not sure about the exact legal situation here, but it is obviously a major problem. Recently, a hulk which had become an obstruction to shipping was moved from an anchorage in the West Coast of Scotland to another location. My understanding is that this was on instructions from the Crown Commissioners. It promply sank and is once again proving to be a problem!

There are places on the Clyde (eg in the harbour outside the Forth and Clyde canal basin) where there are hulks of all ages - including some that look as though they have been there since last century.

Not an easy one.

Stuart

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[Mirelle]

As a citizen of Woodbridge who owns a wooden boat, I hope you will define your terms. The "rotten hulk" ashore in Robertson's boatyard, nearest the river on the northern side, with the white antifouling under the white winter cover. is mine!

Now, seriously, the river from Woodbridge to Melton is just about navigable at High Water and none of your "hulks" are lying in the deep water channel. There is therefore no obstruction of navigation. Whether they consititute an eyesore or a delightful traditional feature of the upper reaches of the river is both arguable and a matter of degree.

The body responsible for tidying the place up is Suffolk Coastal District Council, and as one who has to pay their outrageous levels of Council Tax I would like to point out that:

1. The worst wrecks were removed quite recently. The aforementioned bunch of rapacious soundrels' first attempt at doing this involved (I am NOT making this up!) HIRING A HELICOPTER!

2. When, quite obviously, this did not work, as anyone with a grain of sense (evidently not a commodity found in Local Government!) could have told them, they awarded a contract to one of our local boatyards to remove four wrecks at a price of Pds 60K; a deal that has been the subject of waterside speculation for quite some time.

3. Anyone who lives aboard a houseboat on the River Deben is obliged to pay Council Tax and you can rest assured that they all do.

4. There is no Fairways Committee for the river above Woodbridge, so there is no formal mechanism for dealing with obstructions to navigation, but as noted above this is not a problem in practice.

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[beancounter]

Thanks very much for the info. I think my wife's point about hazard to navigation was as much to do with chunks falling off the "wrecks" in bad weather and getting into the channel proper, rather than the hulks themselves.

John

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[Mirelle]

Good point, but in practice it does not seem to happen. there are various backbones of Thames barges scattered about the river - one about opposite the Tide Mill, one about opposite Robertsons, and quite a number of skeletons of MTB's, which look similar after the topsides have gone, higher up. Wooden wrecks just seem to decay on the spot. It is very much a question of "tidiness" vs "unsightliness". The District Council are spending some more taxpayers' money on a "Study" of the whole area, which so far has produced a Committee. Watch this space!

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