NSW gov't has put out an options paper for discussion on end of life vessels and what to do about them.
www.haveyoursay.nsw.gov.au/end-of-life-vessels
Submissions close 20 January 2023.

Options in the paper include:
Compulsory insurance.
Levy on boat registration/moorings/new boats to pay for disposal.
Ban on mooring minders
Scheme to make it easier and cheaper for boat owners to surrender their vessel for lower cost disposal.

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john24 said..
NSW gov't has put out an options paper for discussion on end of life vessels and what to do about them.
www.haveyoursay.nsw.gov.au/end-of-life-vessels
Submissions close 20 January 2023.

Options in the paper include:
Compulsory insurance.
Levy on boat registration/moorings/new boats to pay for disposal.
Ban on mooring minders
Scheme to make it easier and cheaper for boat owners to surrender their vessel for lower cost disposal.

Great -more pricing power to insurance companies. That's all we need.

What's wrong with giving Waterways the power to determine seaworthiness much like a car defect notice and putting a limit of say 6 months to bring it up to standard or otherwise put it on the hard to do work.

More freedoms are disappearing yet again because of incompetent government.

How about actually providing some community facilities in Sydney Harbor or Pittwater for out of water maintenance with a small membership fee to cover insurance and admin overheads to stop many of these vessels going end of economic life in the first place. You might actually see more people come back to owing a smaller boat and looking after it.
Current prices are extortionate to do anything so even a reasonably good vessel is really not worth much at all as you can't get it back to good condition for less than you could already buy one in good condition.

John thanks for bringing the havyoursay to the forum
everyone else do the survey

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john24 said..
NSW gov't has put out an options paper for discussion on end of life vessels and what to do about them.
www.haveyoursay.nsw.gov.au/end-of-life-vessels
Submissions close 20 January 2023.

Options in the paper include:
Compulsory insurance.
Levy on boat registration/moorings/new boats to pay for disposal.
Ban on mooring minders
Scheme to make it easier and cheaper for boat owners to surrender their vessel for lower cost disposal.

We already have this in NSW except for the ban on mooring minders. And who is going to decide what is a mooring minder. There is already a minimum length for mooring minders.
Maritime have in place the routine for handling abandoned boats. I think it's even on their webpage. The Maritime officers patrol the moorings and hand out defect notices then notices of removal. The boats are removed and spend 3 months in the yard while they attempt to sell them off before contractors strip them and dispose of the rest. There are funds set aside already to do this. You and I are already paying for this!
The reality is though that local boats get removed from the moorings and broken up on the same day. If you are wanting parts off these boats then you need to be friendly with your local Martime officers.

I think it was the December edition of the "Afloat" magazine that had an article about this.

If we already have this in place, why is the NSW government publishing a End of Live Vessel Policy Options document and asking for public submissions?

I think there might be a process for truly abandoned boats were the owner can not be contacted or just does not have the means to dispose of a boat. The government seems to be trying to find a way to 1. pay for it. 2. Some more proactive approach to getting boats disposed of before they are completely abandoned.

As for "who is going to decide what is a mooring minder?" presumably the insurance companies if there is compulsory insurance, if it can be insured then it is not a mooring minder. The insurance companies might insist on a survey before they insure.

The trouble with letting the insurance companies decide is that in the not to distant future any boat on a mooring would need to be less than 5 years old and worth more than $500K.

What happens when insurance companies take a dislike to your style of boat. It is already extremely hard to get insurance for a trimaran. How about if they decide you can't insure a boat if it's on a river because they have already paid out too much to houses on rivers because of floods. How about if they decide not to insure boats that are near bushland because of the risk of bushfire damage.

Sure these all seem like extreme situations now, but insurance is going to start getting harder to get and it will start at the bottom end of the market first...

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Jethrow said..
The trouble with letting the insurance companies decide is that in the not to distant future any boat on a mooring would need to be less than 5 years old and worth more than $500K.

My experience with Club Marine is that they are snobs who are only interested in what you paid for a vessel, not on what it is worth, how it is made, maintained and seaworthiness. The price paid is the only factor, apparently.
If all insurance agencies were given licence, then there'd be no more moorings, only marinas.

I agree letting insurance companies make the call is a step to far, & would spell the end for private mooring licences. my suggestion in the survey was to prove that the vessel is capable of under taking a voyage under her own steam, as this is a part of the standing requirements & the BSOs are aware of vessels that move and those that don't it would be easy to confirm if a vessel is compliant. This would cause an exit of a good deal of no goers or push the would be fixer uppers into action, of course lenience for recent incapacitated vessels could be taken into consideration

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john24 said..
If we already have this in place, why is the NSW government publishing a End of Live Vessel Policy Options document and asking for public submissions?

I think there might be a process for truly abandoned boats were the owner can not be contacted or just does not have the means to dispose of a boat. The government seems to be trying to find a way to 1. pay for it. 2. Some more proactive approach to getting boats disposed of before they are completely abandoned.

As for "who is going to decide what is a mooring minder?" presumably the insurance companies if there is compulsory insurance, if it can be insured then it is not a mooring minder. The insurance companies might insist on a survey before they insure.

I should imagine someone thinks they need to be seen doing something! The article is here on page 10.

flipbook.afloat.com.au/afloat-december-2022-no-392.html

In the case of the last two boats removed from my mooring field the alleged cost to the taxpayer was 60 grand. One boat was removed with out too much of a problem. The second one was a steely and full of sand that could not be shifted. The maritime contractors removed the mast and a few days later a buoy was placed over the wreck. I check on it regularly and a couple of days ago only about 300mm remains above the sand. This is about the only advantage of steel yachts, they eventually disappear!

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Ramona said..

john24 said..
If we already have this in place, why is the NSW government publishing a End of Live Vessel Policy Options document and asking for public submissions?

I think there might be a process for truly abandoned boats were the owner can not be contacted or just does not have the means to dispose of a boat. The government seems to be trying to find a way to 1. pay for it. 2. Some more proactive approach to getting boats disposed of before they are completely abandoned.

As for "who is going to decide what is a mooring minder?" presumably the insurance companies if there is compulsory insurance, if it can be insured then it is not a mooring minder. The insurance companies might insist on a survey before they insure.

I should imagine someone thinks they need to be seen doing something! The article is here on page 10.

flipbook.afloat.com.au/afloat-december-2022-no-392.html

In the case of the last two boats removed from my mooring field the alleged cost to the taxpayer was 60 grand. One boat was removed with out too much of a problem. The second one was a steely and full of sand that could not be shifted. The maritime contractors removed the mast and a few days later a buoy was placed over the wreck. I check on it regularly and a couple of days ago only about 300mm remains above the sand. This is about the only advantage of steel yachts, they eventually disappear!

Should have wacked a heavy chain through the engine mounts ant turned it into a fantastic mooring block.

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Should have wacked a heavy chain through the engine mounts ant turned it into a fantastic mooring block.

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Ramona said..

john24 said..
If we already have this in place, why is the NSW government publishing a End of Live Vessel Policy Options document and asking for public submissions?

I think there might be a process for truly abandoned boats were the owner can not be contacted or just does not have the means to dispose of a boat. The government seems to be trying to find a way to 1. pay for it. 2. Some more proactive approach to getting boats disposed of before they are completely abandoned.

As for "who is going to decide what is a mooring minder?" presumably the insurance companies if there is compulsory insurance, if it can be insured then it is not a mooring minder. The insurance companies might insist on a survey before they insure.

I should imagine someone thinks they need to be seen doing something! The article is here on page 10.

flipbook.afloat.com.au/afloat-december-2022-no-392.html

In the case of the last two boats removed from my mooring field the alleged cost to the taxpayer was 60 grand. One boat was removed with out too much of a problem. The second one was a steely and full of sand that could not be shifted. The maritime contractors removed the mast and a few days later a buoy was placed over the wreck. I check on it regularly and a couple of days ago only about 300mm remains above the sand. This is about the only advantage of steel yachts, they eventually disappear!

I would put it that at least steel & timber boats have the decency to disappear, to be brutally honest the mooring minder problem has occurred because old school glass boats just don't quit

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FabulousPhill said..

Jethrow said..
The trouble with letting the insurance companies decide is that in the not to distant future any boat on a mooring would need to be less than 5 years old and worth more than $500K.

My experience with Club Marine is that they are snobs who are only interested in what you paid for a vessel, not on what it is worth, how it is made, maintained and seaworthiness. The price paid is the only factor, apparently.
If all insurance agencies were given licence, then there'd be no more moorings, only marinas.

Cannot agree more - I drove over the Spit Bridge last Sunday for the first time in maybe 5 years and was totally shocked at the marina spread each side of the bridge - absolutely diabolical imho.