Harbour dues /abandoned boats

Summary

A request was made to the Department of Infrastructure regarding unpaid harbour dues, court actions against owners, and disposal costs for abandoned boats. The authority disclosed that 36 boats have outstanding dues, only one owner was considered for court action, and £50,876.46 was spent disposing of 34 abandoned vessels over five years.

Key Facts

• There are 36 boats currently in the Island's harbours with outstanding harbour dues.
• The average outstanding harbour dues per vessel is 1.94 years.
• Only one owner was proposed for court pursuit, but this was deemed illogical due to bankruptcy and lack of vessel value.
• The Department relies on powers under sections 22 and 49 of the Harbours Act to dispose of vessels rather than using the courts.
• It cost the Department £50,876.46 to dispose of 34 abandoned boats in the last 5 years.

Data Disclosed

• 36 boats
• 1.94 years
• 1 owner
• £50,876.46
• 34 boats
• £1,496.37
• 5 years
• 2021-03-22
• 2021-04-28
• 1717261

Original Request

!. How many boats in respect of which harbour dues haven't been paid, are currently lying in the Island's harbours? 2. How many years dues are outstanding for such boats? 3. How many owners of such boats have been pursued through the Courts for outstanding dues? 4. How much has it cost the Department i.e. the taxpayers, to dispose of boats which have been abandoned by their owners, in the last 5 years?

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Department of Infrastructure Sea Terminal Building, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 2RF

Contact: FOI Response Team/LH/MF Telephone: (01624) 686785 Email: dpo-doi@gov.im

Our ref: 1717261 28 April 2021

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 22 March 2021 and which states (sic):

"1. How many boats in respect of which harbour dues haven't been paid, are currently lying in the Island's harbours? 2. How many years dues are outstanding for such boats? 3. How many owners of such boats have been pursued through the Courts for outstanding dues? 4. How much has it cost the Department i.e. the taxpayers, to dispose of boats which have been abandoned by their owners, in the last 5 years?"

Our response is as follows: 1. There are a total of 36 boats with outstanding harbour dues currently present in the Island’s harbours. 2. This equates to an average of 1.94 years harbour dues per vessel. 3. Only one owner of such a boat was proposed to be pursued through the Courts for outstanding dues. This transpired not to be a logical course of action due to the lack of saleable value of the vessel, ongoing bankruptcy proceedings and the fact that the owner resided outside the jurisdiction. The reason for generally not pursuing these debts through the Courts is that the Department has powers under sections 22 and 49 of the Harbours Act in relation to the disposal and sales of vessels. This means that the Department has the power to remove, arrest and then eventually sell a vessel to defray any debt owed to the Department. 4. It has cost the Department a total of £50,876.46 to dispose of 34 boats abandoned by their owners, either left in a harbour or in a boat park or storage area owned by the Department, during the last 5 years. This equates to an average cost of £1,496.37 per boat.

Please quote the reference number 1717261 in any future communications.

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Yours sincerely

FOI Response Team