Fed up beach town labels mystery boat ‘felony littering,’ NC officials say

A boat that appears with no crew might sound like an enticing sea mystery, but one of North Carolina’s popular tourist destinations is ready for the vessel to just as mysteriously disappear.

In fact, Carolina Beach officials are so fed up with having the boat around that they’ve decided it qualifies as “littering.”

Figuring out who to blame proved to be the bigger mystery, however.

“Felony littering charges have been filed against the individual responsible for abandoning a vessel in waters near Carolina Beach,” the town wrote in a Feb. 9 Facebook post.

“Locating the owner of the vessel proved challenging, as the boat had not been registered since its sale in 2018. A public post made on the town’s Facebook page received more than 14,000 views and ultimately led to a credible tip that helped identify the owner.”

The identity of the owner has not been released. The charge was filed Jan. 27, officials said.

Investigators suspect the boat “broke anchor” somewhere and drifted in the Atlantic until it showed up at Carolina Beach on Dec. 6. It “ran aground in Freeman Park the next day,” town officials said.

Carolina Beach harbormasters took action and towed the boat to a municipal marina before it sank and filled with sand, officials said.

Felony littering carries fines up of to $5,000, and applies when someone “intentionally or recklessly” throws, scatters, spills or places litter on someone else’s property ... or allows it to be blown there, according to state law. And the definition of felony litter does include boats, cars and aircraft.

Senior Harbormaster Jarrett Anderson said the felony charge underscores the town’s “commitment to protecting its shoreline.”

“These charges send a clear message,” Anderson said in the release. “The Town of Carolina Beach will no longer tolerate vessels being abandoned along its shoreline and will make every effort to hold responsible parties accountable.”

Carolina Beach is about a 140-mile drive southeast from downtown Raleigh.