Marine Salvage and Boat Breakers in Kent

Marine salvage jobs are common this time of year. Especially as coastal marinas and moorings take a battering from the winter storms. Our boat breaking team were once again out on the road. This time we had a marine salvage job to collect a sunken Birchwood 27 from Sheerness in Kent.

We had originally had the call to salvage the stricken Birchwood 27 back in the Autumn of 2021. Our team were told that a boat had been sunk in a storm and then dragged to a nearby slipway. A marine surveyor had visited the boat and decided that she was well beyond economical repair.

Our boat salvage team were then sent images of the boat high and dry on the slipway. However one thing the photographer had forgot to mention was the huge barge that was also on the slipway. It was just out of shot in the photo so we didn’t realise it was there until we arrived.

This caused a bit of headache for us as the Hiab truck could not get close enough to the boat to load. We had to go back to the drawing board and the marine salvage operation was put on hold. After discussing with the insurance company it was decided that it would be best to wait until the barge was floated out of the way.

Finally that time came in early 2022 and we were now able to gain access to the slipway. Just like in our original plan the boat was lifted up and away without having to worry about any on site boat breaking. As the boat had been underwater and open to the winter elements for so long there was very little worth removing. It was all either waterlogged or smashed.

It can often be the case with these marine salvage jobs that there is very little to save. We still separate out the woods and metals to be recycled. But we also like to save parts for other boat owners to buy through our Boat Scrapyard Group on Facebook.