Notorious derelict vessel is finally gone from Tacoma waterway. Here’s what happened
A notorious seafood-processing ship with a history of labor and environmental problems has been seized by the state and towed from Tacoma after nearly sinking on the city’s Foss Waterway.
The 178-foot-long Pacific Producer was towed to Seattle’s Ship Canal on Nov. 28 after the state Department of Natural Resources’ derelict vessel program declared an emergency and took temporary possession of it. It had been docked at the old Martinac shipbuilding site on the Foss since August 2022.
The move comes after the ship sprung an ammonia leak in August that required the involvement of several government agencies. During the mitigation of that leak, it was discovered the ship was taking on 400-500 gallons of water a day from a previous repair to its hull that was failing, according to Troy Wood, manager of the derelict vessel program.
Averted disaster
As ammonia and other pollutants were being removed from the Pacific Producer, other equipment was used to remove water from the ship in order to keep it afloat, Wood said.
“So it was a chore to get all of, not only the ammonia off, but all the other pollutants like the oil, the fuel and household cleaners and whatever else they could find in there while it was sinking,” Wood said.
Without that emergency mitigation, “It would have sunk right there where it was moored,” he said.
Adding to the potential disaster, the ship was anchored on top on a sediment-capped Superfund site. Superfund sites are some of the most polluted sites in the country which have been or will be cleaned up and/or contained by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The contaminated sediment in the Foss Waterway has been covered in gravel.
As in similar situations involving derelict boats, an alphabet soup of government agencies oversee various aspects of the ship, its dock, the shoreline, the waterway, licensing, labor, safety, pollution and more. Once the Coast Guard was finished managing the ammonia removal, it could have walked away from the ship and let it sink only to become a problem for the EPA, Wood said.
Because DNR owns the aquatic lands below and around the ship, Wood was able to declare an emergency on Sept. 15 and took emergency temporary possession of the vessel. That allowed DNR to hire a contractor to plug the leak.
Deconstruction
The ship has over $1 million in liens against it, Wood said. The owner, Christos Tsabouris of East West Seafoods, doesn’t have the funds to fully repair or deconstruct the vessel, Wood said.
The Pacific Producer is now indefinitely moored in Seattle where it will likely be deconstructed, Wood said, after DNR is given full custody which it is currently seeking.
“We typically don’t do this, but because of all of these extenuating circumstances, we felt it was best to prevent any further damage to the environment and Foss Waterway,” he said.
Along with ownership, the other hurdle holding up the demolition of the ship is money.
The DNR’s derelict vessel program has been running on a $2.6 million biennium budget for years. The estimated cost to deconstruct the Pacific Producer is estimated at $10 million, plus or minus 30 percent, according to Wood.
Help from Olympia
In 2022, the state Legislature passed a bill which channels 25 percent of the watercraft excise tax into the program. Funding for the program in the 2023-2025 biennium now stands at $10.3 million. Still, If DNR used all of its funding to deconstruct the Pacific Producer, it would effectively end the program until the next biennium.
DNR is seeking more detailed inspections and bids for demolishing the Pacific Producer. Wood hopes that might bring the cost down.
The agency also is looking for hidden hazards including lead, PCBs and asbestos which give a more accurate cost.
Given the high cost of the ship’s deconstruction, DNR will likely ask the upcoming Legislature for funding specifically for the Pacific Producer.
Sordid history
The 77-year-old ship has a history of environmental and safety concerns and fines. The ship arrived on the Foss at the old Martinac shipbuilding yard in 2022 after Tsabouris said he couldn’t find mooring in Seattle.
The ship was essentially mothballed until Aug. 13 when the U.S. Coast Guard, the state Department of Ecology and Tacoma Fire Department responded to the anhydrous ammonia leak.
In January, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited East West Seafoods for 20 violations including 17 listed as “serious.” It assessed $208,983 in fines with abatement required by Feb. 23.
The ship has had similar OSHA violations dating to 2012, including sanitation, electrical, fire hazards and a previous ammonia leak in 2018. In 2017, East West Seafoods was fined $50,000 in federal court after it intentionally discharged oily bilge water and raw sewage from the Pacific Producer into the ocean off the Alaskan coast. It then presented false records to the Coast Guard.
Responsibility
While the ship is currently out of Tsabouris’ hands, he can appeal to retain ownership of the Pacific Producer through the state Pollution Control Hearings Board. He has yet to do so, Wood said.
According to state law, East West Seafoods, “... is responsible for reimbursing an authorized public entity for all reasonable and auditable costs associated with the removal or disposal of the owner’s vessel under this chapter.”
“If the (limited liability company) is dissolved, we may be able to pierce the LLC and go after the LLC owner for cost recovery,” Wood said. “Tsabouris has already claimed ownership of the vessel not only to us but also to the USCG.”
When contacted via phone by The News Tribune on Tuesday, Tsabouris said the state now owns the ship.
“I have nothing to do with that right now. It’s the state’s,” he said.
Tsabouris claimed he didn’t know the details of the situation, refused to answer if he would repay the state for clean-up and deconstruction and then ended the call.
This story was originally published December 12, 2023 at 11:42 AM.
