Funding for hard boats and RIBs running recreational dive charter, and for dive support craft working inspection and marine contracting jobs.
Whole-of-market — 60+ lenders searched, including
Yes. A dive boat is funded as a commercial marine asset, and how it is underwritten depends entirely on what it does. A recreational dive charter hull is judged on bookings, season length and MCA coding, which governs passenger numbers and distance from safe haven. Commercial dive support work is judged on contracts. Used boats are the norm. The detail that trips buyers up is fit-out: lift platforms, cylinder racking, compressors and O2 stowage are what make the vessel usable, and a funder needs them listed so the agreement describes the boat as it will actually work.
Used kit: Yes — used hulls dominate, and well-maintained boats of twenty years or more fund where coding is current and the fit-out is sound.
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Business asset finance is quoted on a flat rate, so that is what this shows — with the equivalent APR underneath, because the two are not the same number. A quick guide only; your actual rate depends on the asset, term, deposit and lender.
Representative example: on Hire Purchase, borrowing £25,000 over 48 months at a 6.0% flat rate (equivalent to 11.5% APR representative), you would repay around £646 a month; total amount repayable approximately £31,000, of which £6,000 is the cost of finance. This calculator is for illustration only — it is not a quote or an offer of finance, and the rate and repayments you are offered will depend on the asset, term, deposit and your circumstances. CW Asset Finance is a credit broker, not a lender, and may receive a commission from the lender that funds your agreement. All finance is subject to status, affordability and lender approval. CW Asset Finance is an Appointed Representative of Rural Finance Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 630701).
Dive boats fall between two funder types and the placement depends which side of the line the operation sits. Recreational charter is a passenger vessel underwrite: coding category, passenger certificate, skipper tickets and a booking record, with a funder who knows that a short northern season and weather cancellations shape the cash flow. Commercial dive support is contract-driven and looks more like plant lending. Both face the same title position as any boat — no registration document, so ownership is evidenced through Part 1 or fishing vessel style registration, bills of sale and the settlement of any marine mortgage. Berths, compressor rooms and shore stores are separate commitments outside the vessel agreement.
Examples of the machines we are asked to fund. This is not an exhaustive list — if what you are buying is not here, it does not mean we cannot fund it. Your supplier quote is what the agreement is written against.
| Machine | What it is |
|---|---|
| Ribcraft 7.8 dive RIB | Coded hard boat for diving |
| Humber Ocean Pro 8.0 dive RIB | Offshore dive charter RIB |
| Cheetah Marine 9.2m dive catamaran | Stable aluminium dive platform |
| Blyth Workcats 10m dive catamaran | Coded dive charter catamaran |
| Cygnus Cyclone 21 hard boat | Small coded dive hard boat |
| Bauer Mariner compressor | Onboard air filling compressor |
| Coltri MCH-16 compressor | Dive cylinder charging compressor |
| Yamaha F300 twin outboards | Twin outboard installation |
| Volvo Penta D4-270 shaft drive | Inboard shaft drive install |
| Hydraulic diver lift platform | Transom diver recovery lift |
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Dive centres on the Scottish west coast, in Cornwall, Pembrokeshire and off the Yorkshire wrecks running day charters through a short season, and commercial diving contractors supporting harbour inspection, pier maintenance and salvage. The trigger for a charter operator is usually turning away bookings in July. For a contractor it is a maintenance framework or an inspection contract that makes chartering someone else’s vessel every week look expensive.
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Bought on hire purchase, business plant and machinery normally qualifies for capital allowances on the full cost even though you pay for it monthly, which is a large part of why hire purchase is the common structure. On a finance lease you generally set the rentals against profit instead. The rules change between budgets and your position depends on how you trade, so treat this as the direction of travel and get your accountant to confirm the detail before you commit.
It needs coding appropriate to carrying divers for hire and reward, which sets the maximum number aboard and the area of operation. That certificate is central to the funding case, because it defines what the boat can legally earn and therefore how the lender assesses the income.
Fixed equipment installed aboard is usually included. Shore-based compressors, blending panels and cylinder stock are separate assets and can often be funded in their own right, which suits a dive centre buying boat and fill station together. List everything so nothing falls between agreements. Buying the boat and the fill station together is common and can be structured cleanly.
It does, and a good marine funder expects it. Seasonal income is normal in UK diving and lenders in this space are used to structuring around it. What they want to see is that the off-season is planned for rather than ignored in the projections.
Usually yes, and mixed use strengthens the income case by extending the season. The coding has to permit the passenger numbers for both activities and the fit-out has to work for each. Tell the funder about the full trading pattern rather than one activity. A boat working most of the year presents a stronger case than a summer-only hull.
It can be an excellent platform and conversions are common. The funder will want the conversion surveyed, the coding reissued for passenger carrying and the lift and access arrangements documented. Provenance and a clean survey make a converted hull fundable where an undocumented one is not.
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Not an offer of finance. All finance is subject to status, affordability and lender approval.
Tell us what you’re looking to fund and Conor will come back to you personally — usually the same day.
Prefer to talk? Call 07581 364281 · serving Leeds, York, Harrogate, Wakefield, Selby, Tadcaster & across North & West Yorkshire.