Claiming an abandoned vessel

It is the Article 13(B) procedure of the Navigation and Water Safety Act by which a person becomes the owner of an abandoned vessel or navigation vehicle, with the permission of the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. It is the other face of Article 13(A), which governs removal by the Department itself. It is not a maritime salvage route nor a purchase: it is an administrative adjudication of ownership, subject to a closed list of requirements and to evaluation by the Office of the Navigation Commissioner.

Article 13(B) itself opens it to any natural or legal person, but with two filters. The first is the vessel’s condition: only if it has no way of being identified, if it is in a notably advanced state of deterioration such as scrap, substantially damaged or dismantled, or if it is aground, sunk or partially sunk. The second is the claimant’s position: it must be done voluntarily, with no existing obligation to salvage that vessel, with the previous owner unlocatable, with no report of loss or theft, and with the vessel not the object of criminal litigation.

• That the vessel have no way of being identified, be in a notably advanced state of deterioration such as scrap, substantially damaged or dismantled, or be aground, sunk or partially sunk (Article 13(B)).Verified against the official source
• Acting voluntarily, with no existing obligation to salvage the vessel, with the previous owner unlocatable, with no report of loss or theft, and with the vessel not the object of criminal litigation (Article 13(B)).Verified against the official source
• First contacting the Department to request information on the registered owner and filling in the corresponding form, with the coordinates, the vessel’s name and registration, its conditions and a detailed description (Article 13(B)).Verified against the official source
• Sending a certified letter with return receipt to the last known address of the last registered owner, per the sticker register DRNA provides (Article 13(B)(i)).Verified against the official source
• Issuing a notice in a newspaper of general circulation with the condition, the place and the coordinates, the vessel’s name, the last registered owner, the registration number if any, and the process to follow if there is no reply within thirty (30) calendar days (Article 13(B)(ii)).Verified against the official source
• Requesting an official report or negative certification from the Police of Puerto Rico stating the vessel has not been reported lost or stolen in the area where it was found (Article 13(B)(iii)).Verified against the official source
• Requesting a certification from the Office of the Attorney General of the Department of Justice establishing the vessel is not the object of criminal litigation (Article 13(B)(iv)).Verified against the official source
• Making a sworn statement before an attorney-notary with the date and coordinates of the find, the attempts to locate the owner, physical evidence such as photos or videos, and statements of other people knowledgeable about the vessel’s history, if any (Article 13(B)(v)).Verified against the official source
• Completing the application form to register the vessel in a state of abandonment and sending it by mail or in person to DRNA’s Office of the Navigation Commissioner, with the documentation and the corresponding fee (Article 13(B)(vi)).Verified against the official source

• The certified letter with return receipt sent to the last registered owner (Article 13(B)(i)).
• The notice published in a newspaper of general circulation in Puerto Rico (Article 13(B)(ii)).
• The official report or negative certification from the Police of Puerto Rico (Article 13(B)(iii)).
• The certification from the Office of the Attorney General of the Department of Justice (Article 13(B)(iv)).
• The sworn statement before an attorney-notary, with the photos or videos evidencing the state of abandonment (Article 13(B)(v)).
• The application form to register the vessel in a state of abandonment (Article 13(B)(vi)).

1. 1

   Step 1: Only three conditions open this door

   Article 13(B) is narrower than the general definition of an abandoned vessel, and it is worth checking before spending on letters and notices. The route opens for the vessel or navigation vehicle that has no way of being identified, that is in a notably advanced state of deterioration such as scrap, substantially damaged or dismantled, or that is aground, sunk or partially sunk. The sticker expired six months, which does appear in the Article 3(DD) definition, is not one of the three conditions of this route.

2. 2

   Step 2: And five conditions on the claimant

   The same paragraph sets the personal filters: the person may become the owner provided it is done voluntarily, they have no existing obligation to salvage that vessel, the previous owner cannot be located, no loss or theft of the vessel has been reported, and the vessel is not the object of criminal litigation. Someone who already had a duty to get it out — by contract, as its crew, by any existing obligation — is excluded by the text.

3. 3

   Step 3: The first move is asking DRNA who the owner is

   Before the six steps there is a preliminary move. The person who finds the vessel must contact the Department to request information on the registered owner, and must fill in a form for that, providing the coordinates where it is located, the vessel’s name and registration, the conditions it is in and a detailed description so it can be identified. The procedure truly starts once the applicant holds either the last registered owner’s information or a Department certification that no such information exists.

4. 4

   Step 4: Certified letter with return receipt

   Step (i) requires showing that every necessary effort was made to contact the last registered owner. The form is written down: send a certified letter, with return receipt, to the last known address of the last registered owner, as it appears in the sticker register DRNA provides. That letter must identify the vessel, notify the situation, the place and the conditions it is in, and explain the process that will follow if the owner does not reply to the Department to remove the vessel.

5. 5

   Step 5: Newspaper notice with the coordinates

   Step (ii) requires issuing a notice in a newspaper of general circulation in Puerto Rico providing the condition the vessel is in, the place where it is located, as well as the coordinates, the vessel’s name, the last registered owner and the registration number, if any. It must also include the process that will follow if the last registered owner does not answer and no communication from them reaches the Department to remove the vessel within thirty calendar days.

6. 6

   Step 6: Two certifications from two different agencies

   Steps (iii) and (iv) go to separate agencies and do not substitute for each other. On the Police of Puerto Rico side, an official report or negative certification must be requested stating the vessel has not been reported lost or stolen in the area where it was found. On the Department of Justice side, a certification from the Office of the Attorney General must be requested establishing the vessel is not the object of criminal litigation.

7. 7

   Step 7: The sworn statement and what it must contain

   Step (v) requires making a sworn statement before an attorney-notary describing and summarising: the date the vessel was found and the coordinates where it sits; the attempts to locate the owner; physical evidence such as photos or videos showing the vessel is abandoned for having no way of being identified, for being in a notably advanced state of deterioration such as scrap, substantially damaged or dismantled, or for being aground, sunk or partially sunk; and also, if any exist, the statements of any other person with knowledge or history of the vessel.

8. 8

   Step 8: The form, and a fee that cannot exceed fifty dollars

   Step (vi) closes the file. An application form to register the vessel or navigation vehicle in a state of abandonment must be completed and sent by mail or in person to the Office of the Navigation Commissioner of the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, together with all the previous documentation and with a fee the Department sets to cover the cost of evaluating the case, to the address shown on the form. The Act puts the ceiling in the text itself: that fee may not exceed fifty dollars.

9. 9

   Step 9: Provoking the abandonment or lying disqualifies you

   Article 13(B) closes that part with an express warning. If the person seeking to take the vessel collaborates in or provokes the state of abandonment, or does not give the proper notices as set out in the procedure, or gives false, misleading or deceptive information, they shall have no right over it; and if it was already granted, the Department will proceed with revoking the permit or the adjudication of ownership, and they may be liable for the damages such negligent or criminal conduct causes. The Act requires the Department to include those consequences in the application form, including referral to the relevant authorities.

10. 10

    Step 10: Six months, and silence works in your favour

    The Office of the Navigation Commissioner evaluates the application, weighs the evidence and consults all available registers to satisfy itself the vessel is indeed abandoned in one of the three conditions. It also evaluates that the removal will not affect the marine ecosystem, identifies mitigation actions if it deems them necessary, and sets case-by-case conditions for the removal. If it concludes there was abandonment and the procedure was properly followed, the vessel is adjudicated as the applicant’s property; and where more than one application exists over the same vessel, it is assigned in the order of complete filing. The deadline is written down: the evaluation must be an expedited procedure not extending beyond six months from the complete application being filed, and if the term passes with no determination by the Office, the abandoned vessel is deemed adjudicated as the applicant’s property.

11. 11

    Step 11: Adjudicated is yours, and it must be taken out

    Adjudication comes with an immediate duty. The applicant and new owner of the vessel determined to be abandoned is obliged to remove the vessel or navigation vehicle immediately, under the permits the Department approves for that, and the Department must approve and supervise the removal and relocation process and ensure compliance with the corresponding permits.

12. 12

    Step 12: The previous owner’s fines are not erased

    Article 13(B) says it at the end and without hedging: this procedure does not mean the fines associated with the vessel’s abandonment that were adjudicated to the previous owner are removed. And it adds two blocks that follow that person: the previous owner may not register any other vessel or navigation vehicle in their name until those fines are settled, nor renew the sticker of vessels held in their name until they are.

Before the Office of the Navigation Commissioner, attached to the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, which provides the registered owner’s information at the outset, receives the application by mail or in person, evaluates the file and adjudicates ownership. Two more agencies are needed along the way: the Police of Puerto Rico, for the report or negative certification of loss or theft, and the Office of the Attorney General of the Department of Justice, for the certification that there is no criminal litigation. The sworn statement is made before an attorney-notary.

• Applying over a vessel with an expired sticker: that circumstance is in the general definition, not among the three that open this route.
• Starting with the form: first you must ask DRNA for the registered owner’s information.
• Sending an ordinary letter: step (i) requires a certified letter with return receipt.
• Publishing a notice without coordinates: the notice must say where it is, with coordinates, and the registration number if there is one.
• Bringing only one certification: both the Police one and the Department of Justice one are needed, separately.
• Signing the statement before just anyone: the Act requires a sworn statement before an attorney-notary.
• Filing the statement with no photos or videos: they are the physical evidence step (v) lists.
• Overpaying for the evaluation: the Department’s fee may not exceed fifty dollars.
• Helping the vessel become abandoned in order to claim it later: that disqualifies you and may carry liability for damages.
• Believing adjudication ends the work: the new owner is obliged to remove it immediately, under permits approved and supervised by the Department.
• Counting the six months from when you handed in loose papers: the term runs from the complete application.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales (DRNA)

  DRNA

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