Steel, Aluminium and Ferro-Cement Hull Removal
Non-fibreglass hulls change the equipment, the disposal route and the economics entirely.
Three completely different problems
- Steel: heavy, and cut with torches rather than shears. The upside is real - steel goes to a scrap yard rather than a landfill, and at scale a large steel hull's scrap value can substantially offset the removal.
- Aluminium: lighter, and worth considerably more per ton than steel. A large aluminium hull is one of the few cases where the salvage genuinely can cover the job.
- Ferro-cement: the difficult one. It has to be broken up mechanically, it produces a large tonnage of inert waste with zero scrap value, and it goes to landfill by weight. Ferro hulls are the category where owners are most often quoted nothing at all because no one wants the job.
Why this matters to the quote
If a hauler gives you the same per-foot number for a ferro-cement ketch as for a fibreglass sloop, they have not looked at the boat. Hull material moves the disposal cost more than almost any other single variable.
28 feet and over is our speciality — not our limit. Larger vessels are what our equipment, permits and yard relationships are built around, and they are the jobs most haulers decline. Smaller boats are welcome too. See what the work costs and how to vet whoever you hire.
Other situations we handle
Tell us about the boat.
Send photos, a location and whatever paperwork exists. We will tell you what it takes to make it go away — and if there is a cheaper legal route than hiring us, we will tell you that too.