PORTLAND – The U.S. Coast Guard and the Maine Marine Patrol are investigating the theft of bells and clappers from navigational buoys along the Maine coast.

Investigators believe the brass or bronze bells are being sold as scrap metal.

At least seven buoys have been hit by thieves, most of them within the past couple of months, according to Chief Warrant Office Jeffrey Chase, the aids to navigation officer based at Coast Guard Sector Northern New England in Portland. Most of the thefts have occurred in remoter areas of the Maine coast, north of Rockland and around northern Penobscot Bay.

“We haven’t seen any down near Portland,” he said Thursday “It’s mostly been in the remoter areas.”

Coast Guard crews have discovered most of the thefts as they made routine inspections of the buoys.

“There are no electronics on these bell buoys or gong buoys,” Chase said. “The bell is fixed and the motion of the buoy moves the clapper to make the sound.”

The bells are made of brass or bronze depending on how old they are and can weigh as much as a couple hundred pounds, he said.

“They’d be valuable as scrap metal,” Chase said, estimating the bells could bring hundreds of dollars apiece.

There have not been any accidents yet as a result of the thefts, but the missing signals can put mariners in danger. The buoys are set to mark navigable channels and to alert boaters to hidden hazards. Although most boaters use electronic navigation devices these days, Chase said they still watch for the buoys and listen for the sounds in order to help them navigate safely.

Coast Guard Cmdr. Brian Downey of Sector Northern New England compared the thefts to someone stealing the traffic lights on a busy main street.

“These signals are there to warn mariners of hazards,” Downey said in a press release issued by the Coast Guard on Thursday. “Both the visual and audible signals are critical to the safe navigation of vessels, from large tanker ships to fishing and recreational crafts.”

To deter thieves, Chase said, Coast Guard intelligence officers are working closely with local shops and scrap yards in an effort to identify the missing property. So far, none of the missing bells or clappers has been recovered.

“We’ve talked with owners of novelty shops, and no one has seen anything, yet,” Chase said. “We suspect they’re probably being kept as keepsakes or scrapped.”

He said replacing each of the missing bells and associated hardware has cost taxpayers between $400 and $1,500. If caught and convicted, the thieves are liable for those replacement costs and face fines of up to $2,500 and imprisonment for up to one year for each federal offense.

The Coast Guard is looking to boaters to help in the investigation and urge all mariners, harbor masters and the boating public to report any discrepancies or suspicious activity to the nearest Coast Guard station or to make an anonymous report to the Maritime Safety Information hot line at 800-682-1796.

rhewitt@bangordailynews.net

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