Lumberman
Lumberman was a tugboat, launched in 1941, that had at least half a dozen owners, and operated in multiple regions, including off New York State, Puget Sound, and Alaska.[1] The tug was 107 feet long, 25 feet wide, 11.4 feet deep, and displaced 192 tonnes.[2][3]
According to KFSK she was moved from the Puget Sound region to operations in Alaskan waters, in the 1990s.[4]
In 1999 her classification was changed from tug to recreational vessel, and she was employed as a houseboat.[1] Her official documentation ended in 2006.
In 2016 the tug's owners abandoned it at its moorings, in Juneau, Alaska.[4]
The tug was moored just outside of Juneau's jurisdiction, and authorities reported it was serving as a "live-aboard".[5][6] In December 2017 a skiff carrying five people out to the vessel overturned, and two men went missing. There was an extensive search for them, but their bodies were never found.
In July 2018 State authorities placed a trespass notice on the vessel.[7]
Over $ 200,000 in public funds had to be spent to clean the vessel of oil and other toxic material before the Environmental Protection Agency agreed the vessel could be scuttled.[2][3]
At the end of a five year process, when all the jurisdiction issues had been sorted out, the vessel was authorized to be scuttled.[4] On May 2, 2021, the Coast Guard cutter USCGC John F. McCormick towed her to sea, and she was scuttled in deep water off Cross Sound, Alaska.
The tug's bow contained an air pocket, after the vessel was flooded, and the John F. McCormick had to deploy her deck cannon to complete the scuttling.[4]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Lumberman". Tugboat Information. Archived from the original on 2020-09-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20200919084536/http://www.tugboatinformation.com/tug.cfm?id=4014. Retrieved 2021-05-05. "In 1999, the Channel Construction Company renamed the tug as the Lumberman. And, she was re documented as a recreational yacht. Where she was converted to a live-aboard for her owner."
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Carmela Grandinetti, (2020-09-29). "This letter is in regard to the City and Borough of Juneau’s proposed transportation and disposal of the M/V Lumberman at sea (United States Coast Guard Documentation Number 240840).". Environmental Protection Agency. Archived from the original on 2021-05-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20210506041107/https://kcaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/VesselGP_Lumberman_EPALtr_Sep-29-2020.pdf. Retrieved 2021-05-05. "When sinking the vessel, you must follow the remaining conditions of the MPRSA General Permit, paying particular attention to ensuring that the vessel sinks to the bottom rapidly, that marine navigation will not, in fact, be impaired [40 C.F.R. § 229.3(a)(5)], and that the entire disposal event takes place during daylight hours [40 C.F.R. S§ 229.3(a)(7)]."
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Jacob Resneck (2020-10-28). "EPA gives OK to scuttle troublesome Juneau tug". KCAW. Archived from the original on 2021-02-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20210212052020/https://www.kcaw.org/2020/10/28/epa-gives-ok-to-scuttle-troublesome-juneau-tug/. Retrieved 2021-05-05. "The World War II-vintage tugboat has been a fixture on Gastineau Channel. And it became a jurisdictional tug-of-war between city, state and Coast Guard officials after it broke its anchor line on state tidelands more than two years ago."
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Jacob Resneck (2021-05-04). "Coast Guard scuttles Juneau’s troublesome tugboat Lumberman". KFSK. Archived from the original on 2021-05-05. https://web.archive.org/web/20210505032452/https://www.kfsk.org/2021/05/04/coast-guard-scuttles-juneaus-troublesome-tugboat-lumberman/. Retrieved 2021-05-05. "The black-and-yellow tugboat had long been a familiar sight in Juneau’s inland waters. She arrived in the late 1990s from Puget Sound. She’d change hands several times, decaying over the years to become a rustic liveaboard that skirted local laws."
- ↑ Matt Miller (2017-12-06). "Update: Search suspended for 2 men who remain unaccounted for in Gastineau Channel". KTOO. Archived from the original on 2020-10-31. https://web.archive.org/web/20201031041358/https://www.ktoo.org/2017/12/06/breaking-search-underway-gastineau-channel-two-missing-men/. Retrieved 2021-05-05. "The Coast Guard said the skiff loaded with five people — two women and three men — and a dog was headed to the Lumberman, a 107-foot tug anchored near Aurora Harbor. The Lumberman, which is anchored in navigable waters outside the port’s jurisdiction, has acted as a liveaboard for years, Juneau’s Harbormaster David Borg said."
- ↑ Adelyn Baxter (2019-02-26). "With no removal in sight, Juneau weighs options for Lumberman tug". KTOO. Archived from the original on 2020-10-31. https://web.archive.org/web/20201031041342/https://www.ktoo.org/2019/02/26/with-no-removal-in-sight-juneau-weighs-options-for-lumberman-tug/. Retrieved 2021-05-05. "Since the boat is sitting on state land, the city maintains that it’s the responsibility of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources to remove it."
- ↑ Jacob Resneck (2018-07-03). "Derelict tug remains stuck in Gastineau Channel". KTOO. Archived from the original on 2020-10-31. https://web.archive.org/web/20201031041346/https://www.ktoo.org/2018/07/03/derelict-tug-remains-stuck-in-gastineau-channel/. Retrieved 2021-05-05. "Aaron Timian of the Department of Natural Resources confirmed that the Lumberman, a 130-ton tug, is on state tidelands. Last week DNR posted a trespassing notice on the vessel."
