BANGOR – City officials here may finally be able to abandon ship.

The River Dog, a 65-foot vessel currently in the city’s possession, tentatively is set to go to auction Dec. 15.

The boat, which operated on the Penobscot River in 1998 and 1999, has caused some headaches – financial and otherwise – for city officials in recent months. The city has spent about $30,000 to maintain the 42-year-old vessel, which belonged to the Florida-based Marine Transportation Inc., since a lease with the company expired last year.

“I think that it’s fair to say that we’ll just all be glad when the whole process is completed,” said city solicitor Norman Heitmann.

In 1998, the city signed a lease and option to purchase the boat with the Bangor Packet and Steamship Co., an affiliate of the Sea Dog Brewing Co.

Last year the company decided not to operate the boat, so the city repaired the boat and ran the river cruises for part of the 1999 season, losing a considerable amount of money because of the abbreviated season.

The city has been in possession of the boat ever since, after unsuccessful attempts to return the vessel to its owner, according to Heitmann.

The tentative December sale was made possible by a U.S. District Court Judge’s October order, which granted the city the right to sell the boat in order to recoup its expenses.

Donald C. Olson, president of Marine Transportation Inc., in an earlier letter to the court, wrote he had no option but to agree to the sale, but asked the judge to make sure the boat draws a fair price.

“It is a physical and monetary hardship to answer the complaint served upon us within the time the law allows,” Olson wrote. “We ask … that the bids received are in fact reasonable and consistent with the survey in possession of the city stating a value near $200,000.”

The judge must agree to the sale price before the boat, currently docked in Winterport, can change hands.

Any amount over the estimated $30,000 claimed by the city would be forwarded to Olson’s company.

City officials had earlier explored selling the boat, but rejected the one $92,000 bid submitted by a Bangor businessman.

The City Council also had the option to purchase the boat for $108,000, but declined.

In a related lawsuit in state court, the city is suing Bangor Steamship and Packet for money lost on the venture. The city loaned the company $50,000 to help lease the boat. The company only repaid about $2,000 on the loan, said Heitmann, adding that with interest, the amount is now up to $52,000.

The state judge is expected to rule on the matter next week.