LCI subcommittee hears testimony on H.3771 requiring recovery insurance for long‑anchored vessels

Members of the South Carolina House Labor, Commerce and Industry (LCI) Banking and Insurance Subcommittee on Wednesday heard more than an hour of testimony on H.3771, the “Marine Recovery Insurance” bill that would require a liability insurance endorsement and a vessel survey for boats that remain at anchor in state waters for an extended period.

The measure seeks to make it easier to remove derelict and abandoned vessels, which speakers said are damaging docks, polluting waterways and creating hazards to navigation. Garrett Lacey, with the South Carolina Coastal Fishing Guide Association, told the committee, “it is beating my dock and now I have to pay for it,” and said guides see abandoned vessels daily. Rudy Socia of the nonprofit Wounded Nature Working Veterans said the current system lets owners keep nonworking boats on public waterways for “$10 a year” under a DNR permit and that his group has removed 219 derelict vessels to date.

Why it matters: Committee members and Department of Natural Resources (DNR) officials described gaps in enforcement and funding that make removal costly and slow. Major Michael Paul Thomas of the South…