Yachting Monthly Magazine Features Boatbreakers

Boatbreakers has once again been quoted in Yachting Monthly Magazine. There will be a feature talking about end of life abandoned boats in the September edition. However the article is already online here. Yachting Monthly Abandoned Boats Article.

It follows on from the BBC article that we also featured in a fortnight ago. Hopefully we should also be mentioned in the next issue of Practical Boat Owner magazine.

The number of abandoned boats around the coasts of the UK and Europe is growing. Now a new initiative is to look at the scale of the problem and improve how end-of-life boats are disposed of.

The scale of boat dumping around the UK and North-East Atlantic is to be examined as part of efforts to tackle the growing problem of end-of-life vessels.

Luke Edney of the UK’s largest boat disposal firm, Boatbreakers, agrees. He says data protection laws means information on ownership can’t be accessed via the Small Ships Register, so a national registration scheme would ‘hopefully push more people to be a bit more responsible’.

Fly-Tipped Boats

He would also like to see a sales tax on every boat sale. With the money being centrally held to pay for the recycling of fly-tipped boats.

‘A boat might be sold five or 10 times. But it will be the last owner who has to foot the bill to get rid of it. It is likely the owner won’t have much money, as he bought a cheap boat, and won’t have the money to dispose of it responsibly,’ said Edney, who says 20% of Boatbreakers work is disposing of abandoned boats.

Free Recycling Service in France

‘Some people are responsible and after weighing up the cost of mooring fees and maintenance realise it is cost effective to recycle their boat. But ultimately any sort of national scheme would need to be Government funded to work. In France, free-recycling services for boats exist. All owners have to pay for is the cost of getting the boats there.’

Edney said that ultimately, until GRP can be fully recycled, the problem will not go away. Although there has been some success in recycling GRP wind turbine blades, the GRP on boats, due to the different resins and other materials, is more complex.