An abandoned 120-foot US Navy ship is stuck in a Johns Island creek. How did it get there?
JOHNS ISLAND — Residents are calling for the removal of two boats that have been stuck in Bohicket Creek for months, citing concerns about the environmental impact of a possible fuel leak.
The vessels, which the Coast Guard said are owned by the same individual, can be spotted from the Cherry Point Public Boat Landing on Wadmalaw Island, near the town of Rockville, and across the water from Seabrook Island.
A small white boat, about 30 feet in length, is stuck in the pluff mud of Bohicket Creek.
Its companion in the creek is a gray behemoth — a steel ship, 120 feet long — wedged in the grass and mud of the marsh. The Coast Guard confirmed the larger ship is a former U.S. Navy research vessel that was acquired by its owner at an auction in March 2021.
The former Navy research vessel first entered South Carolina’s waters in 2021, according to Coast Guard Lt. Michael Allen. The owner was issued a Captain of the Port Order on July 16, 2021.
The 2021 order, issued to owner Samuel Kodaimati, prohibited him from operating the vessel due to lack of federal documentation. Attempts to reach the owner of the vessel by The Post and Courier were made but not successful at the time of publication.
A dock belonging to James Green, a Johns Island resident, sits a few hundred feet away from the two ships. Green once owned the East Coast Seafood Company, selling fresh-caught shrimp, though the business is no longer in operation.
His dock is still active and rents slips to boaters. Kodaimati kept the grounded vessels at Green’s dock for several months this year, but never paid the dockage fees, Green said. After racking up roughly $3,000 in unpaid fees, Green said he told the owner of the boats to leave.
Green said the large ship was anchored in the creek for a while, but it started leaking. Now, the vessel in is the marsh a few hundred feet away from his dock, where it’s sat for months.
It’s an “ecological disaster” waiting to happen, Seabrook Island resident Steve Redman said.
Redman said he’s been trying to get the vessels removed for weeks, calling the Department of Natural Resources, the Coast Guard, Department of Environmental Services, even the governor’s office.
“When I saw this thing, I know that a 110 feet to 125 feet steel boat, there’s no way it’s supposed to be implanted in any ecological important area,” Redman said.
