The operators of Steveston Harbour are trying to remove a “liveaboard” boat that is “deteriorating” and has overstayed its welcome.
The Steveston Harbour Authority (SHA) has filed a lawsuit against the ship “Kuulakai” at the B.C. Supreme Court, claiming it had failed to follow the harbour’s rules for liveaboard moorage.
The Kuulakai, currently owned by Richmond-based Canadian Black Cod Fishing Corp., was built in 1944 as a tugboat for the U.S. Army.
Originally named Lloyd B. Gore, it was later converted into a yacht.
The Kuulakai is currently moored at the small craft harbour in Steveston, a “core harbour” critical to the local fishing and aquaculture industry, reads the notice of civil claim.
Vessels and their owners moored at the harbour are required to follow SHA’s rules, which include being insured at all times and signing an agreement for using the vessel as a liveaboard.
The SHA’s directives for liveaboard vessels were approved in spring of 2021, and according to the SHA, the Kuulakai was given a grace period in August 2021 to follow the rules.
It was asked to comply fully with the directives by January 2022 if it wanted to stay at the harbour.
The deadline came and went and the Kuulakai remained uninsured and no liveaboard agreement was signed, according to the SHA.
Although SHA asked the Kuulakai to leave the harbour by the end of January 2022, and later by May 2022, it remains in place to this date.
“The condition of the (Kuulakai) is deteriorating which risks causing hazards, contamination, and damage to the (SHA’s) property,” reads the notice of civil claim.
The SHA also claims the Kuulakai is trespassing and is preventing the SHA from letting out the moorage space to “active commercial fishing vessels.”
It is asking the court for a permanent injunction against the ship, banning it from being on SHA’s property, and demands that the Kuulakai pay its outstanding unpaid moorage fees.
Canadian Black Cod Fishing Corp. and the Kuulakai have 21 days from the date of service to respond to the lawsuit.
