Why hasn't the City of Cape May removed the sunken vessel NorEaster from the harbor yet? The State Police investigated it and charged the owner with vessel abandonement. The Abandoned Vessel Disposition Law on the NJ MVC website states, the owner of the vessel shall be liable for all outstanding costs, fines and penalties, and the municipality shall have a lien against the property and income of that violator for the total amount of those outstanding costs, fines, and penalties if the vessel has been abandoned in a municipal waterway. Beach tag revenue could cover the cost of removing it.