Supercharged Hurricanes Mean More ‘Ghost Boats’ Haunting Waterways

Inside Climate News · By Kiley Price · last updated August 19, 2025 – 4:06 AM

Abandoned vessels can linger in waterways for years, polluting ecosystems and complicating navigation. A new initiative is trying to shift the tides.

By Kiley Price

For nearly three years, drivers on San Carlos Island in Florida passed by an unusual sight tangled in the mangroves on the shoulder of a major road: a large white boat. The abandoned vessel was a relic of 2022’s Hurricane Ian, which displaced more than 7,000 vessels amid severe winds, torrential downpour and catastrophic storm surge.

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