This article was originally published in
High Country News, a magazine about the American West’s environment and communities. Read more stories like this at hcn.org.
The
Lumberman, a 33-meter Second World War–era steel-hull tugboat, has been floating at the quiet cruise ship dock in Juneau, Alaska, for months, awaiting a watery grave. Abandoned for nearly a decade, the
Lumberman was moored in Juneau’s Gastineau Channel in the early 2000s by its last owner, Brenden Mattson. Two years ago, the tugboat’s anchor line broke, stranding it on state tidelands and creating a jurisdictional hot potato for city, state, and coast guard officials as they debated how to dispose of the vessel.
The Atlantic
Alaska’s abandoned ships are turning into a multimillion-dollar environmental nuisance.
Pieter Ten Hoopen / Agence VU / Redux
The Lumberman, a 107-foot World War II–era steel-hull tugboat, has been floating for months at the quiet cruise-ship dock in Juneau, awaiting a watery grave. Abandoned for nearly a decade, the Lumberman was moored in Juneau’s Gastineau Channel in the early 2000s by its last owner. Two years ago, the 192-ton tugboat’s anchor line broke, stranding it in state tidelands and creating a jurisdictional hot potato for city, state, and Coast Guard officials as they debated how to dispose of the vessel.