Ferry owner faces fines over missed deadline

PORT ANGELES, Wash. – The owner of the beleaguered ferry Kalakala faces fines and possible court action from the state for missing a deadline to remove the dilapidated boat from Neah Bay at the tip of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula.

Steve Rodrigues is considered in violation of a U.S. Coast Guard order and could be fined $32,500 daily because he hasn’t safely moored or moved the rusting vessel, said John Veentjer, a spokesman for the Coast Guard’s Puget Sound marine safety office.

Rodrigues had until Wednesday to tow the vessel. Now the Kalakala could be seized and auctioned off to help pay costs, a state official said.

On Wednesday, Rodrigues asked for a seven-day extension, but was told to put his request in writing, Veentjer said.

The state Department of Natural Resources also ordered Rodrigues’ 276-foot ferry off DNR shorelands in Neah Bay, where it’s moored about 100 yards west of the Makah Tribe’s pier.

Rodrigues declined specific comment on the latest development. “It’s moving ahead,” he said. “It involves a lot of complex issues.”

The Coast Guard is worried that the 69-year-old Kalakala could list or sink in high winds, said Veentjer.

“The Coast Guard’s concern is where he’s moored, and how it’s unsafe for winter weather,” he said.

In March, the Kalakala was towed from Lake Union in Seattle to Neah Bay, but Rodrigues moved it after strong currents shoved it into a pier, causing about $4,000 in damage, Makah tribal leaders said.

Fran McNair, DNR aquatics steward, said agency officials have met with Rodrigues several times and “he hasn’t shown the financial wherewithal to move the vessel.”

DNR recently joined the Makah Tribe’s lawsuit in Clallam County Superior Court that seeks to force Rodrigues to tow the vessel to a new location outside Neah Bay.

Rodrigues, who bought the Kalakala in an October 2003 auction, owes DNR more than $20,000 for the five months the Kalakala sat in Lake Union, court records show. He’s been charged $1.07 per day since July 1 for similar fees in Neah Bay.

Rodrigues hasn’t obtained the proper insurance or leases from the tribe or DNR, according to court records.

McNair said the agency also is concerned the Kalakala’s present moorage may be scouring DNR tidelands.

“It’s not really deep there, and someone needs to inspect it,” she said.

Rodrigues has been looking into the possibility of having the Kalakala towed, said Lee Sebring, owner of Sebring Marine Services LLC of Seattle, which towed the vessel out to Neah Bay in early March.

He said Rodrigues couldn’t meet the criteria required by the Coast Guard, nor his own, which included payment upfront and having a place to take it.

Sebring also wanted proof of insurance and the Coast Guard’s signing off on his tow plan.