Floating homeless camp sinks - possibly a first for Seattle

SEATTLE (KOMO) -- What authorities describe as a homeless camp on the water has sunk. It may be a first for Seattle, a city plagued with homeless camps under highways, street corners, in greenbelts and abandoned buildings.

The floating camp was made up of three boats rafted together and tied up illegally to a fishing net piling belonging to the Duwamish Tribe.

Two boats sank one week ago in the Duwamish Waterway in an area known as Turning Basin 3 that borders Tukwila. A third boat remained afloat.

How the boats sank is still being investigated by the Port of Seattle. The boats were just outside the federal waterway that’s the responsibility of the Coast Guard -- so it fell into the jurisdiction of the Port of Seattle.

The Port was notified by the City of Tukwila one month ago to investigate the boats and the activities onboard.

“There was a homeless concentration of people coming back and forth via various methods or dingy or an inflatable or swimming,” says Mike DeSota, Marine Division/Environmental Compliance Manager for the Port of Seattle.

DeSota says the Coast Guard pumped out fuel and removed hazardous chemicals that were found on board after the sinkings were reported.

On Wednesday, a salvage crew removed both boats. One of the boats, a 36-foot 1960’s Chris-Craft had refloated by its inhabitants who authorities cannot find. That boat was towed to the South Park Marina.

The owner of the third boat remained on board but received a notice by the Port that he was to move from his mooring by Monday or his boat would be impounded.

All three boats were issued what’s known as 30 day Notice of Intent to Obtain Custody by the Port which is similar to an impound notice for a derelict RV.

The sinking of the so-call homeless camp on the water parallels many of the same aspects authorities have to deal with people living in derelict RVs. It's not a simple process of just removing the boat off the water.

Unless a vessel is an immediate threat to the environment or boats navigating the water way, state law says authorities must follow a protocol to find the true owner of the boat. In this case, the occupants of the sunken boats have disappeared.

“It doesn't happen that often but it does happen and when it does we see this cloud of confusion on the ownership of the vessel,” says DeSota.

He says the registered owners didn’t file the proper paperwork when the two sunken boats changed ownership so it's unclear who is responsible for the boats.

DeSota says it also can get complicated if a person who has received a Notice of the Intent to Obtain Custody moves his boat to a jurisdiction where the notice may not have any power.

“Let's say they go a City of Seattle property, it becomes a whole different problem for the City of Seattle because it's a different governing agency,” says DeSota.

It’s similar to a derelict RV moving to another city before it get impounded by the first city.

“Honestly this is the first major concentration on having three boats together like that, that I’ve come across in my 10-to-12 years at the Port,” says DeSota.