Warrant issued for owner of sunken tugboat

Published 9:45 am Thursday, November 27, 2014

The man accused of abandoning an historic 100-year-old tugboat that sank in Eagle Harbor last year is now wanted on a $10,000 warrant for failing to show up in court.

A bench warrant for the arrest of Anthony R. Smith, the owner of the tugboat “Chickamauga,” was approved in Kitsap County Superior Court after Smith did not show up at a hearing.

His trial was expected to start this summer on a charge of causing a vessel to become abandoned or derelict and one count of discharge of polluting matters into state waters. Smith also faces a charge of first-degree theft.

The “Chickamauga” sank in Eagle Harbor in October 2013 and leaked approximately 200 to 300 gallons of diesel fuel into Puget Sound.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced the filing of charges against Smith in January.

Smith, who works in Alaska as a fisherman, was released on personal recognizance after he was charged and waived extradition from Alaska. His trial had been set for June 23.

When he did not appear for a status hearing the week before his trial — his attorney asked that he be allowed to appear via telephone — the judge granted the state’s request for an arrest warrant.

According to documents in the court case against the tugboat owner, Smith paid the first and last month’s moorage fees to Eagle Harbor Marina after piloting the “Chickamauga” there in February 2013. He failed to make any other payments on his moorage fees, and also didn’t respond to repeated requests by the harbormaster to address the failing condition of the boat.

Marina officials said earlier they had been unable to contact Smith, who was reportedly living in Alaska and claimed the tugboat was actually owned by his ex-wife.

The boat was later raised by a salvage team and towed to a marina in Port Townsend.