I have a feeling we will be seeing more and more of this... When in S FLorida and some one owns an older vessel 80s 90s model in the 100 ft range and the amount of repair, upgrade and maintenance to have the vessel attractive for a sale would cost more than the vessel can sell for, what option does an owner have then with that vessel when it is past the point of no return? Where can a boat go that is not financially worthwhile to maintain and or no one is willing to spend to keep it functional? Aluminum/steel vessels can be recycled but where how? Glass boats would have to be cut and disposed but where and who would pay for that?
The Witte boneyard in Staten Island NY is one place. The Witte Boneyard: A Different Kind of Graveyard - WNYC Bottom line though is that it's a pain in the butt to be the owner at the end of a boat's lifespan. A lot of people probably drop their boats off in marinas and abandon them. That seldom ends the hassle or expense though.
Two methods common around here are; A. Anchor out in an established anchorage, grind off hull id #'s and peel registration and B. Haul at a cheaper yard for "service" and never come back. Local townships or yards are left with a huge cleanup bill due to EPA regulations. The average 40'er can easily cost 25-30K to properly clean the tanks, cut up and haul to the dump, 80-100'er could be over $100K!
Or they go to a boat yard if they're aluminum and are cut up into scrap like that 100' broward on here......sea escape that was at Jones Boatyard......
I think this thread needs to be combined with both the "APPLE YACHT" and "YACHT FIRE OFF OF MIAMI" threads... one to show the before... and the other as an alternative ending... I wonder has anyone posted a "artificial reef" thread around here?
As far as I know not that many yachts are scrapped. Merchant navy vessels yes, but I thought one of the yachting market problems was that every year a significant number of new yachts are launched, but very few old ones are literally taken off the market. So the total number of yachts increases every year, and demand can sometimes not keep up? Same applies for the charter market.
Shipbreakers in Asia. A dirty little business that is only just changing for the better. Ship Breaking in Bangladesh - YouTube