BRADENTON, Fla. — The wreckage of the Caroline C, rusting for more than a decade in the Manatee River, finally has been removed.
Throughout the years, its owner told Manatee County officials the boat had intrinsic value to him, said Alan Lai-Hipp, the environmental program manager with the county's parks department.
As it was expected the boat eventually would be salvaged, the Caroline C was not considered abandoned. The owner always stated he was expecting money to transport the vessel to a Tampa shipyard for refurbishment, Lai-Hipp said.
But since about 2003, it stayed put in the river, later moored at Snead Island -- until now.
The county was invoiced $135,750 to remove the boat, with 75 percent of the cost reimbursed to the county under a state derelict vessel grant, Lai-Hipp said.
The Bradenton Herald reports the 80-foot, 170-ton trawler saw service as a mission supply ship and was anchored off Snead Island at the mouth of the Manatee River. It was anchored in the Manatee River and broke loose in strong winds, eventually drifting into the Green Bridge fishing pier.
Charlie Hunsicker, director of Manatee County Parks and Natural Resources, told the outlet the boat will be scrapped.
The Herald says owner Theron Bonham was not able to get the money to repair or save it.
RELATED: The 'boat graveyard': Why are there more than a dozen old, sunken boats sitting in Tampa Bay?
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