Marine Services

What Marine Services does

NE Marine Salvage, doing business as TowBoatU.S. Boston, Beverly, Newburyport & Portsmouth, is a privately held marine towing and salvage operator founded in 1984 in Newburyport, Massachusetts. The company runs a fleet of nine fast-response towing vessels crewed by twelve USCG-licensed captains across four New England ports — Boston Harbor (North Quincy), Beverly, Newburyport, and Portsmouth, NH (added 2019) — providing 24/7/365 service from Southern Maine to Scituate, MA and extending 40+ miles offshore to fishing grounds such as Stellwagen Bank and Jeffreys Ledge. The fleet is C-PORT accredited for commercial assistance and professional towing, and the company assists more than 1,600 boaters annually (Boston location alone handles ~800 incidents per season).

The core service is emergency marine assistance for disabled vessels — towing, fuel delivery, jump starts, soft ungroundings, and dock-to-dock tows — delivered through three intake channels: phone dispatch (978-465-8876 and the 1-800-391-4869 dispatch center), VHF Channel 16 marine radio, and the BoatUS Mobile App. The operator extends the service portfolio into commercial diving (mooring chain replacement, bottom cleanings, zinc anode replacement, prop disentanglement, underwater rigging), environmental spill response (absorbent and hard containment boom, sunken-vessel fuel leakage work), marine launch and charter services, insured/derelict boat disposal, and marine salvage and wreck removal for pleasure craft, fishing vessels, aircraft, tugboats, and passenger ferries. Dispatch and recovery equipment is fully mobile across coastal New England and inland lakes.

Revenue is generated through three primary streams: (1) service provider fees paid by BoatUS (the TowBoatUS network of 800,000+ members) and GEICO Marine Insurance for towing and assistance rendered to their members and policyholders, (2) BoatUS membership subscription revenue routed through the partnership (BoatUS Unlimited Saltwater at $165/year and BoatUS Unlimited Gold at $200/year), and (3) professional services revenue from commercial diving, spill response, charter, launch, and boat disposal engagements with commercial vessel operators and government/environmental buyers. Customer segments span individual recreational boat owners (primary), insurance providers, commercial vessel operators (ferries, cruise ships, fishing vessels), and government/environmental agencies. The company is independently owned with no disclosed institutional investors, acquisitions, or funding events.

Name

Marine Services

Legal name

NE Marine Salvage

Website

https://nemarinesalvage.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

NE Marine Salvage (TowBoatU.S.) is a private New England marine towing and salvage operator founded in 1984, running 9 vessels and 12 USCG-licensed captains from four ports serving BoatUS members, GEICO Marine policyholders, and commercial/government clients from Southern Maine to Scituate, MA.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Marine Towing and Salvage Services

NAICS

Support Activities for Water Transportation (4883), Ship Building and Repairing (336611)

SIC

Ship & Boat Building & Repairing (3730)

akta.pro primary industry

Emergency Towage & Rescue (Refloating, Grounding Response) (IMAJANAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Heavy Lift & Marine Recovery (Cranes, Lift Barges, Rigging) (IMAJANAC), Pollution Response & Environmental Salvage (Oil Spill, HAZMAT) (IMAJANAF), Asset Recovery & Decommissioning (Derelict Vessels, Abandoned Property) (IMAJANAI), Underwater Hull Inspection, Cleaning & Propeller Services (TLAKAKAJ)

Keywords

• Marine towing services
• Boat salvage recovery
• Commercial diving services
• Emergency marine assistance
• Wreck removal services

Headquarters

HQ city

Salisbury

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. BoatUS Membership Subscriptions: Annual membership fees for unlimited towing services - BoatUS Unlimited Towing at $165/year and BoatUS Unlimited Gold at $200/year. Over 800,000 BoatUS members nationwide have access to TowBoatUS network services.
2. Service Provider Fees: Service fees paid by BoatUS and GEICO Marine Insurance for providing towing and assistance to their policyholders/members.
3. Commercial Services: Revenue from commercial diving services, spill response services, charter services, launch services, and boat disposal services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Marine Services (operating as TowBoatUS Boston, Beverly, Newburyport & Portsmouth; legal name NE Marine Salvage) operates a 24/7/365 marine towing, commercial diving, and salvage business across New England using a fleet of 9 fast response towing vessels and 12 USCG licensed captains at 4 locations. The company is the official service provider for BoatUS and GEICO Marine Insurance, delivering emergency boat towing, fuel delivery, jump starts, soft ungroundings, wreck removal, spill response, commercial diving, launch and charter services, and boat disposal.

Product overview

TowBoatUS Boston, Beverly, Newburyport & Portsmouth operates as a marine towing and salvage service provider with four locations in the New England area. The company offers a unified portfolio of services centered on marine towing (boat assistance, fuel delivery, jump starts, soft ungroundings), commercial diving, spill response, launch and charter services, boat disposal, and marine salvage/wreck removal. Services are delivered through a fleet of 9 towboats and 12 USCG licensed captains operating 24/7/365. The company also offers BoatU.S. membership programs (Unlimited Saltwater at $165/year and Unlimited Gold at $200/year) that provide varying levels of towing coverage and benefits.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Marine Towing
• Commercial Diving
• Spill Response Services
• Launch Services
• Charter Services
• Boat Disposal
• Marine Salvage and Wreck Removal
• BoatUS Unlimited Saltwater Membership

Quantifiable outcome

• Responds to disabled vessels in under 20 minutes (per customer testimonial)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• BoatUScoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOfficial service provider for BoatUS nationwide network of over 800,000 members. BoatUS provides membership marketing, billing, and dispatch coordination while TowBoatUS provides the operational towing fleet and captains. Members receive towing services, fuel delivery, jump starts, and other marine assistance benefits.
• GEICO Marine InsurancecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOfficial service provider for GEICO Marine Insurance policyholders requiring marine towing and assistance. TowBoatUS provides professional towing services to GEICO policyholders who need emergency marine assistance, with claims processed through GEICO.
• C-PORT (National Association for the Marine Assistance Industry)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerC-PORT is the national trade association for the marine assistance industry. TowBoatUS fleet is accredited by C-PORT for commercial assistance and professional towing - providing industry certification and standards compliance that differentiates their service from non-accredited operators.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Vessel Assist: Direct competitor in marine assistance and towing, formerly affiliated with GEICO Marine Insurance, offering subscription-based on-water towing and emergency services to recreational boaters.
• Other TowBoatUS regional franchises: Franchise network of TowBoatUS operators across U.S. coasts operating the same subscription-driven, C-PORT-accredited towing model under the BoatUS brand.
• Sea Tow Services International: Direct competitor operating a parallel nationwide marine assistance franchise network with similar subscription-based towing, fuel delivery, jump starts, and ungroundings for recreational boaters; comparable customer base and service model.

Broad incumbents

• Resolve Marine Group: Global marine casualty response and salvage company with comparable emergency towage, wreck removal, and pollution response capabilities; significantly larger scale but overlapping service mix.
• Marine Spill Response Corporation (MSRC): National oil spill response organization offering containment, recovery, and salvage services comparable to the subject company's spill response business line.
• Boat Owners Association of the United States (BoatUS): Parent of the TowBoatUS network with 800,000+ members; sets program standards, handles membership billing, and dispatches to regional operators including the subject company.
• Titan Salvage: Large-scale international marine salvage and wreck removal operator; comparable in service category (salvage, refloating, recovery) but operates at vastly broader geographic and asset scale.
• Donjon Marine & Salvage: Established regional marine salvage, heavy lift, and emergency response operator in the U.S. Northeast; comparable in core services (towing, salvage, oil spill response) but with much larger vessel fleet.
• Clean Harbors: Large environmental and spill response services company with marine emergency response capabilities overlapping with the subject company's pollution response and salvage offerings.

Regional players

• Other Sea Tow regional franchises: Sea Tow franchisees in other U.S. coastal regions providing analogous subscription-based on-water towing and assistance; comparable service offering in non-overlapping geographies.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Marine Services