Cancún Starts Clearing ‘Boat Cemetery’ From Nichupté Lagoon

Cancún, Quintana Roo — After nearly three years of groundwork, municipal and federal authorities and the local nautical industry have begun clearing abandoned boats from Nichupté Lagoon, one of Cancún’s largest wetland systems. The operation targets between 45 and 50 vessels that are floating, sunk, or stranded along the lagoon’s edges.

Pablo Gutiérrez Fernández, secretary general of the Benito Juárez municipal government, said the first phase involves dragging vessels from the shoreline to a secure storage area on land. Fernando Haro, the municipality’s director of ecology, said later phases will use specialized platforms to reach boats in deeper sections of the lagoon.

Francisco Fernández, president of the Asociados Náuticos de Quintana Roo, said the effort aims to end what locals call the “boat cemetery” and reduce environmental hazards from fuel, chemicals, and other waste that may remain aboard the abandoned vessels.

Owners who come forward will have to prove legal ownership, pay fines and recovery costs, and face proceedings before the harbor captain’s office of the Mexican Navy. If no one claims the boats within three to five months, they may be destroyed and sent for final disposal, officials said.

The operation is largely voluntary on the part of the nautical sector and is expected to cost between 2 million and 5 million pesos. It involves the federal government, the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP), the Navy’s harbor captaincy, the Asociados Náuticos de Quintana Roo, and the Benito Juárez municipal government.

Haro said removing the wreckage will improve the lagoon’s environmental conditions and help protect its flora and fauna. Authorities described the operation as the start of a longer process to restore and safeguard Nichupté Lagoon.