A work crew removes the derelict fishing boat Artemis from the beach at MacMillan Pier in Provincetown in August. The vessel broke from its mooring during a March nor'easter and came to rest on the breakwater in the West End. Owner John Christiansen was charged with littering after failing to remove the boat from the breakwater but the charge was dismissed earlier this month. [Merrily Cassidy/Cape Cod Times file] ▲

ORLEANS — A charge of littering against the owner of the Artemis, the defunct fishing vessel that sat on the Provincetown West End breakwater for months earlier this year, was dismissed in Orleans District Court earlier this month due to "insufficient evidence."

John Christiansen, 54, of West Yarmouth was charged by Provincetown police in June, after he failed to remove the 42-foot-long steel hulled ship off the breakwater where it had lodged during a storm.

The vessel arrived in Provincetown Harbor last summer and broke its mooring during a nor'easter in March. Despite attempts to get Christiansen to remove the boat, the Artemis remained up against the breakwater until the town moved it on its own dime in July.

After pulling it from the breakwater, where it had become something of a tourist attraction, the town brought the boat to the harbor and then eventually pulled it up by a crane and had it cut up for scrap.

Orleans District Court Judge Robert Welsh III allowed Christiansen's motion to dismiss the complaint against him, citing "insufficient evidence presented to magistrate to warrant" a complaint. The town is still seeking to have him repay the cost of the boat's removal through a civil lawsuit, said Provincetown Harbormaster Rex McKinsey.

Probable cause was lacking in the criminal littering case, Christiansen's lawyer Emir Sehic wrote in the motion.

"The narrative makes clear that the vessel had been tied to something, as it 'broke loose' during a storm," he wrote. "Whether there was an issue with the mooring the boat was on or there was simply an act of God (i.e. a two-day storm), it was not the conduct of Mr. Christiansen that 'caused' the vessel to be stranded on the breakwater."

Sehic also argued that Provincetown Police Chief James Golden did not write in his report that the harbormaster moved the Artemis from explorer Barry Clifford's mooring to a town mooring despite having documentation of the move.

Court documents indicate that in June 2017, the town ordered Christiansen to remove the boat from the harbor. He failed to comply after a second order later in the month and in July 2017, to accommodate a fireworks barge, he was ordered to remove the Artemis again.

Christiansen again did not move the boat so the "Harbormaster was forced to move Artemis to a town mooring," according to court documents.

"The man left me with no other choice but to deal with the boat," McKinsey said.

In September 2017, Christiansen was again ordered to move the boat because it could potentially break loose in a storm, which it did in March of 2018.

In July, the Finance Committee approved $40,000 to move the boat from the breakwater and demolish it; town officials said they would seek restitution.

"There has been a violation of the integrity of the magistrate's review of the criminal application, and had the clerk-magistrate known that agents of the Town itself had put the vessel on a mooring that failed, then the magistrate would not have found probable cause issue this complaint," Sehic argued.

Golden and Christiansen did not respond to a request for comment.

While the criminal case has now been dismissed, a Barnstable County Superior Court case between Christiansen and the town is ongoing.

— Follow Ethan Genter on Twitter: @EthanGenterCCT