BREVARD COUNTY, Fla.,None — A ship has been sitting in the middle of the Indian River in Brevard County for nearly three years and nearby residents wonder if the eyesore will ever move.
The 180-foot Princess Grace has been out in just about the same location since August 2008, and even if the owner wanted to move it he probably can't right now.
If the owner of the ship parked it on someone's land for two and a half years he would be considered a squatter, but anchor it in the middle of the Indian River Lagoon and he's in the clear, even if no one who lives along the river wants to look at it.
"I would just assume it not be there," Cocoa resident Jim Fausey said.
The Fausey's consider the ship an eyesore and worry if it is abandoned it could either break free or sink and pollute the lagoon.
"Nobody uses it. I think he should use, yeah, use it or get rid of it," Fausey said.
The Coast Guard says, as long as the ship is not discharging sewage or blocking the channel and has the proper markings and lights, it can remain in the lagoon indefinitely.
One resident WFTV talked to said that's part of life on the water.
"It's managed to stay here this long. Don't bother me," Brevard County resident Charlie Weaver said.
The ship is an old Coast Guard buoy tender that was sold to a private owner. It was brought into the lagoon to take shelter before a storm in 2008 and never left. But it reminds residents that some boat owners consider it a watery junkyard.
"If nobody's tending to it, then it might sink and then pollute our waters," Cocoa resident Terri Fausey said.
But now it may not be able to leave until water levels in the lagoon rise enough for it to get to the deep water channel. County officials said they've been told by the owner, once that happens, the Princess Grace may finally sail on.
Some residents suggested a change in the laws to keep boaters from setting anchor in the intracoastal for a set period of time.
WFTV
