When your vessel is deemed abandoned

It is the Article 13(A) procedure of Act 430-2000 by which the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources identifies, inspects, investigates, relocates, removes and disposes of abandoned vessels and navigation vehicles. The article was added by Act 35-2024, per the compilation’s own note. This guide looks at it from the owner’s side: what makes a vessel meet the definition, what notices must reach you, how long you have and what answering late costs.

The Article 3(DD) definition reaches the vessel or navigation vehicle that has been left, renounced or given up by its owner without the intention of resuming any interest or right in it, and clarifies that it may be in good condition, deteriorated or destroyed. It then lists circumstances it might meet, closed with “among others”: a sticker expired for six months or more; no way of being identified; an owner who cannot be located through government databases; illegally tied to a buoy; at a dock or port without the corresponding authorisation; at unauthorised anchoring points; berthed, run aground, sunk or partially sunk; obstructing navigation channels; posing a risk to public health or ecosystems; or in a notably advanced state of deterioration such as scrap, substantially damaged or dismantled.

• That the Department attempt to contact the last known owner or registered titleholder, by telephone or email, and send notice by certified mail to the last known address (Article 13(A)(i)).Verified against the official source
• That a public notice be issued in a newspaper of general circulation, on DRNA’s website and on its social media, giving thirty (30) calendar days for removal (Article 13(A)(ii)).Verified against the official source
• That a visible notice be placed on the vessel stating it was identified as abandoned, with thirty (30) calendar days, the procedure to keep it and the Department’s contact information (Article 13(A)(iii)).Verified against the official source
• If the owner replies in time, removing the vessel immediately under the permit the Department grants and paying the fines associated with the abandonment, including those relating to environmental impact damages where imposed (Article 13(A)).Verified against the official source
• In an emergency removal, paying the reasonable costs incurred for relocation, removal and storage if the vessel is claimed within the term granted (Article 13(A)).Verified against the official source
• Settling the fines associated with the abandonment before registering another vessel in their name or renewing the sticker of those they already hold (Article 13(B)).Verified against the official source

• The certified-mail notice the Department sends to the registered titleholder’s last known address (Article 13(A)(i)).
• The visible notice placed on the vessel, which must include the procedure to keep it and the Department’s contact information (Article 13(A)(iii)).
• The permit the Department grants for the owner to carry out the removal (Article 13(A)).

1. 1

   Step 1: A sticker expired six months already counts

   It is the fact most people miss, so it goes first. The Article 3(DD) definition says an abandoned vessel may be in good condition, deteriorated or destroyed, and that it might meet any of several characteristics. The first on the list is having the sticker expired for six months or more. A whole boat, afloat and in order, can fall within the definition on that alone, without anyone having set it adrift.

2. 2

   Step 2: There is no valid permit to stay

   Article 13 opens with a single sentence, before any procedure: an abandoned vessel or navigation vehicle shall have no valid permit to remain in Puerto Rico’s bodies of water. From that comes the power the same article gives the Department to identify, inspect, investigate, relocate, remove and dispose of those vessels, to use available funds, to establish collaborative agreements with municipalities and to seek funds through non-recurring competitive proposals, as well as to work on seeking and managing federal coastal rehabilitation funds.

3. 3

   Step 3: The three notices that must go out first

   Article 13(A) does not permit removal without notice. First, if the vessel is identified, the Department shall try to reach the last known owner or registered titleholder in the government database, by telephone or email, and shall also send notice by certified mail to their last known address, informing them of the vessel’s status and of the eventual removal and disposal procedure if no reply comes within thirty days of the sending. Second, it shall issue a public notice in a newspaper of general circulation in Puerto Rico, on the Department’s website and on its social media, giving thirty calendar days to carry out the removal. Third, it shall place a visible notice on the vessel itself with those same thirty days, the procedure the owner may follow to keep it, and the Department’s contact information.

4. 4

   Step 4: What happens at sixty days

   Article 13(A) sets the point of no return at the press notice: if the Department receives no reply from the owner to the notices sent within sixty days of the newspaper notice being issued, it shall seize the vessel, which may be removed and sold at public auction, or disposed of. In disposal there is a written priority: the Department must first seek to recycle the material before it is taken to a landfill system.

5. 5

   Step 5: Losing the boat does not cancel the debt

   This is the consequence that surprises most. Article 13(A) says that if the total cost incurred for the removal, public auction and disposal of the abandoned vessel is not recovered, the Department may bring a money-collection action for the remaining debt against the last registered titleholder in the government database. The auction does not automatically settle what it cost to get it out of the water.

6. 6

   Step 6: If you answer in time, it must be moved at once

   Article 13(A) describes the way out: if the owner of the abandoned vessel or navigation vehicle replies to the notice within the term set, they must remove the vessel immediately, under the permit the Department grants for that purpose, and pay the fines associated with the abandonment, including those relating to environmental impact damages arising from it, where imposed. Replying is not enough: it must be removed, and with a permit.

7. 7

   Step 7: The emergency track skips the prior notices

   Article 13(A) opens a second track. Where the abandoned vessel obstructs navigation channels or poses an imminent risk to people’s health or to ecosystems, the Department may relocate or remove it immediately. The notices come afterwards: identify the owner and investigate that the vessel has not been reported stolen and is not pending criminal litigation; send certified-mail notice to the last registered titleholder stating where the vessel is, the reason for removal, its condition, the procedure carried out, the costs incurred, and that it will be considered abandoned sixty calendar days after removal if unclaimed; and, absent a reply, publish a notice in a newspaper, on the website and on social media giving thirty calendar days to claim it.

8. 8

   Step 8: Claiming it after an emergency removal

   The text is direct: if the owner replies and claims it back within the term granted, they must pay the reasonable costs incurred for relocation, removal and storage. If the Department receives no reply within sixty calendar days of the newspaper notice being issued, it will seize the vessel and may sell it at public auction to cover those costs, with the same recycle-first rule and the same collection action for the remainder.

9. 9

   Step 9: The order in which the Department removes

   Article 13(A) closes with three priority criteria, and explains each. Emergencies: those in imminent danger of sinking, breaking up or blocking navigation channels, or presenting environmental risks such as leaks of fuel, oils or other hazardous substances. Existing non-urgent threats to human health, safety and the environment: abandoned, floating or sunken vessels presenting a future or probable, but not immediate, threat. And those impacting habitat or posing an economic impact not covered by the previous category, such as those blocking a marina ramp, a public boat ramp or a public beach.

10. 10

    Step 10: The abandonment follows you to the next boat

    Article 13(B) ends with two blocks that fall on the previous owner and not on the lost vessel. The previous owner of a vessel or navigation vehicle that has been abandoned may not register any other vessel or navigation vehicle in their name until the fines associated with the abandonment are settled. Nor may they renew the sticker of vessels held in their name until those fines are settled.

Before the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, which identifies, inspects, investigates, relocates, removes and disposes of abandoned vessels, issues the notices and grants the removal permit to an owner who replies in time. The notice placed on the vessel must, by the article’s own mandate, include the Department’s contact information, and the text expressly asks the owner to contact DRNA to enquire about their vessel’s status and the procedure to follow.

• Believing only a sunken wreck counts: the definition says it may be in good condition.
• Letting the sticker expire: six months or more is the first circumstance on the list.
• Tying to a buoy without authorisation or staying at a dock without permission: both are in the definition.
• Leaving an old address on the register: the certified-mail notice goes to the last known address in the government database.
• Waiting only for the letter: there is also a newspaper notice, one on DRNA’s website and social media, and one placed on the vessel.
• Conflating the two clocks: thirty days to reply and remove, sixty from the press notice before seizure.
• Replying and moving nothing: it must be removed immediately and under the permit the Department grants.
• Thinking losing the boat at auction wipes the bill: the Department may sue the last registered titleholder for the remainder.
• Assuming an emergency also carries prior notices: there the removal is immediate and the notices come afterwards.
• Ignoring that claiming it after an emergency removal costs relocation, removal and storage.
• Believing the matter ends with that vessel: until the fines are settled no other can be registered and the stickers of the rest cannot be renewed.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales (DRNA)

  DRNA

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov