Public-Private Partnership Launches Multi-State ADV Removal Project

In a first-of-its-kind effort across six states and two unincorporated territories, dozens of coastal communities will see a significant investment in removing more than 300 abandoned and derelict vessels (ADVs) from their local waters. With four-year project funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Debris Program, administered through the BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water, the ADV grants will fund removal and education efforts in communities heavily impacted by ADVs and the navigation, safety and pollution hazards they pose.

The projects were selected by a panel of independent salvage experts, state boating advocates, nonprofit research organizations and planning agency staff under a program created by the nonprofit BoatUS Foundation with NOAA funding to remove abandoned and damaged boats from U.S. coasts and the Great Lakes.

Work on the ADV removal projects is expected to mobilize salvage crews across each of the announced grant areas later this year as local environmental reviews are completed. Both recreational and commercial ADVs are targeted for removal.

The awarded states, communities, organizations and programs include the following areas.

• Metlakatla Indian Community, Alaska
• City & Borough of Yakutat, Alaska
• Sitka Conservation Society, Alaska
• Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government, Louisiana
• Makah Indian Tribe of the Makah Indian Reservation, Washington
• State of Maine
• U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources
• North Carolina Coastal Federation
• Oregon Department of State Lands
• Port Authority of Guam

The ADV removal effort also includes the creation of a first-of-its-kind national database to pinpoint locations of ADVs and track their removal. NOAA grant funds also document ADV prevention and removal activities to share with the public and support a national dialogue and education efforts on boating-related debris disposal. This includes the 2^nd Annual “Turning the Tide” summit scheduled for December 2026 in New Orleans, which will offer attendees a range of resources, enlightening panels and keynote addresses focusing on ADVs and marine waste streams.