The Washington Department of Natural Resources has seized a derelict ship that has been docked since Oct. 1 at Port Ludlow.

Officials met Friday to decide where on Puget Sound to tow the 180-foot ship so it can be scrapped in an environmentally sound manner, said Dennis Clark, regional aquatics manager for the department.

The ship is just a hulk, with its engines removed and no fuel on board.

The state stepped in Thursday after George Marincin, president of VicMar Inc. of Tacoma, was unable to carry out his plan to tow the ship to Mexico to be scrapped, the Peninsula Daily News reported Friday ( http://bit.ly/XrJxFX).

"I haven't abandoned this," Marincin told the paper. "I am still diligently pursuing it, and when I come up with a plan, I hope that the state will be gracious enough to let me pull it out of Port Ludlow myself."

State officials had hoped Marincin would be successful, but now they're tired of waiting and want to scrap the ship before it becomes more of a problem.

"The vessel is now in our custody," Clark said. "Mr. Marincin had three months to deal with the problem, and he did not do so."

The department gave Marincin a month's notice in December to move the ship or it would take ownership.

Marincin said he has lost more than $100,000 on the project, which originally called for the ship to be scrapped in Mexico and sold as scrap metal on the Asian market. He estimated it would be worth $85,000 to $90,000.

Now Marincin will be billed whatever it cost of the state to scrap the ship - probably in the six figures, Clark said.

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Information from: Peninsula Daily News, http://www.peninsuladailynews.com