Abandoned boat illegally moored in Ballard may finally be removed

A rusty, graffiti-riddled boat that has been illegally moored on the Ballard waterfront for several years may finally be removed per a court ruling last week.

The 112-foot-long boat, the Albert, first appeared at the public pier at the end of 24th Avenue Northwest in 2019 and has since suffered from neglect, vandalism, frequent trespassing and criminal activity, according to the initial complaint in a lawsuit filed by the city of Seattle in King County Superior Court in June 2024. At one point in 2023, the boat began sinking, requiring an emergency intervention by the Seattle Department of Transportation and the U.S. Coast Guard.

Last Monday’s decision by Judge Melinda Young declared the Albert unlawfully moored on city of Seattle property and a public nuisance. The judgment orders Fred Kelly Jr., a Colorado resident, to remove the boat by July 30, incurring a $500 fine for each day, starting June 1, through the date the boat is removed by either Kelly or the city. Kelly was also ordered to pay $185,500 in civil penalties stemming from over two years’ worth of daily $250 fines, and about $1,215 in legal costs and attorneys’ fees.

If Kelly doesn’t remove the Albert by July 30, the city is authorized to remove it via storage, sale or demolition at the owner’s expense.

“After years of delay by the boat’s owner, justice has finally been served,” City Attorney Erika Evans said in an emailed statement. “This judgment sends a clear message: if you violate the law and prevent the people of our city from enjoying their public spaces, we will hold you accountable.”

The city first issued a notice to Kelly to remove the boat by the end of October 2023. When the boat wasn’t moved, the city served Kelly a second notice, and he requested an extension of the deadline to sort out a removal plan. The boat was still moored at the public pier by the agreed-upon deadline of January 2024, prompting SDOT to refer the issue to the city attorney’s office in April 2024. According to a spokesperson for the city attorney’s office, it took the city some time to address the boat issue primarily due to pandemic-related slowdowns.

The Albert is a retired Icelandic Coast Guard gunboat built in 1956 that was involved in the Cod Wars, a series of naval conflicts from the 1950s through the 1970s between Iceland and the United Kingdom over fishing rights, according to Ballard resident Chris Mills, who’s been researching the Albert. Since being relocated to U.S. waters, it has changed hands and purposes, from scientific survey expeditions to providing aid in the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill cleanup. Mills also said it was briefly flagged by the U.S. Coast Guard as a suspicious vessel during the 1980s for suspected drug running.

Kelly’s attorney, Isaak Hurst, said Kelly has been attempting to move the boat from Seattle for several years. It was originally placed at an Alaskan shipyard with the goal of being restored, but Hurst said the Albert was then towed to Seattle by the shipyard to make room for other Alaskan vessels. It has been left largely unattended since.

“It’s not as simple as just finding a new dock or a new shipyard to tow the Albert over to,” Hurst said.

He said the city of Seattle designated the Albert as a derelict vessel, adding that, with the designation, no public or private shipyards will take the boat, given the potential associated risks. Hurst said he and Kelly communicated with the Washington Department of Natural Resources starting in 2025 for over a year to get the boat into its Derelict Vessel Removal Program but were unsuccessful. DNR spokesperson Joe Smillie acknowledged the Albert is on a department list of vessels of concern but said the boat would not have qualified for the program unless the city of Seattle “assigned” the vessel to DNR, putting it under the department’s jurisdiction. The boat also would not qualify for the department’s Vehicle Turn-In Program – which is what private boat owners usually go through – due in part to “improper moorage.”

“Ask any vessel owner in Washington state who has tried to scrap a vessel, and they will tell you straight up, the bureaucracy associated with scrapping a vessel is immense, involves several federal regulatory agencies, and ultimately costs several times the scrap value of the vessel,” Hurst said.

Hurst said Kelly is committed to moving the Albert and has been working with Seattle-based marine contractor Global Diving & Salvage to repair and rehome the ship.

“My client is doing everything in his power to prevent Washington’s taxpayers from having to pay for the removal and scrapping of this vessel. It’s just a function of finding the money at this point,” said Hurst, who also noted that most banks seldom grant loans for boat projects.

SDOT spokesperson Ethan Bergerson said the department is “cautiously optimistic” that the boat will be moved by the deadline, but they are coordinating a plan with DNR if that is not the case.