Derelict boat hits the road

Grounded on the Silverdale waterfront since January, the abandoned 1950’s boat known as the S.S. Minnow was lifted with a crane and whisked away for salvage.

Millican Crane Service of Kingston hoisted the rotting vessel onto a flatbed trailer on Monday afternoon.

Several large yellow straps were placed around the vessel. The boat was then slowly dragged by the crane from the shore over closer to the curb near the boat ramp. The crane then slowly lifted the boat onto the flatbed trailer where it was secured in place.

Once it arrives at Global Diving and Salvage in Seattle, it will be taken to an open yard where the process of removing toxic chemicals and disposing of them in a landfill for hazardous wastes.

The words “S.S. Minnow” are scripted on the side of the boat, but the registered name of the boat is “Diana.” The boat was abandoned by Howard Reed of Silverdale who did not have the financial means to maintain the boat.

The cost of having the boat removed from Silverdale’s beach was approximately $11,960. Seventy-five percent of that cost will be covered by the Derelict Vessel Removal Program. The remaining 25 percent will be covered by the Port of Silverdale.

“We started the process of having the boat removed four months ago,” Port Commissioner Harry Knapp said. “We had to go through the process of permits and advertising it for sale first.”

The state, as well as the Department of Natural Resources, Department of Ecology, CKFR, KCSO, Kitsap Emergency Management and the Department of Health, were just some of the agencies that played a role at one time or another regarding the status of the abandoned boat.

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