Funding for cutter suction, backhoe and grab dredgers used on marina maintenance, lagoon work, harbour channels, flood lagoons and inland navigations across the UK.
Whole-of-market — 60+ lenders searched, including
Yes, though dredgers sit in a narrow lending market. A dredger is funded as commercial marine plant on hire purchase or lease, assessed on the dredging contracts behind it rather than any general asset value. Used machines are fundable and much of the UK fleet is second-hand or imported. The issue funders weigh is resale: the buyer pool for a cutter suction dredger is small and often overseas, so recovery is slow and expensive. That, rather than the condition of the machine, is what shapes who will lend and on what basis.
Used kit: Yes — used and imported machines are the norm, and older dredgers fund where the hours, pump condition and contract backing are documented.
Get a quoteor call 07581 364281
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).
Dredging plant is placed with funders who write heavy marine and civils equipment rather than anything resembling a boat lender, and even there appetite is limited. They will look at the dredging contracts or the internal maintenance programme, the discharge and pipeline arrangement, transport between sites and the operating hours. Resale is the sticking point: few UK buyers, a largely export secondary market and significant cost in moving a machine, so funders take a cautious view of the security whatever the machine cost new. Where the dredger is a registered vessel rather than pure plant, title follows the usual marine route of registration and bills of sale, with any marine mortgage cleared at completion.
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 |
|---|---|
| IHC Beaver 40 cutter suction dredger | Cutter suction dredging plant |
| Damen CSD350 cutter suction dredger | Modular cutter suction dredger |
| Ellicott 370 Dragon dredger | Portable cutter suction dredger |
| Liebherr P 995 backhoe dredger | Pontoon mounted backhoe dredger |
| Doosan DX300 grab dredge pontoon | Grab dredging excavator on pontoon |
| Damen Water Injection Dredger 1500 | Water injection dredging vessel |
| Damen Modular Barge pontoon set | Sectional working pontoon barge |
| HDPE floating discharge pipeline | Floating dredge spoil pipeline |
| Warman centrifugal dredge pump | Slurry pumping package |
| Caterpillar C32 dredge power pack | Dredger engine and generator set |
Get a quoteor call 07581 364281
Marina groups dredging their own basins, inland waterway contractors, lagoon and reservoir maintenance firms, port authorities and aggregate operators. The trigger is usually a maintenance cycle that has become unavoidable — berths silting up, a navigation channel losing depth, or a multi-year framework that makes hiring in a contractor each season poor value. Buyers are frequently moving from hiring plant to owning it after several years of repeat spend on the same work.
Get a quoteor call 07581 364281
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.
Because the resale market is tiny. A tracked excavator sells anywhere in a week; a cutter suction dredger has a handful of possible buyers, often abroad, and costs real money to move. Funders price that into the decision regardless of how good the machine is.
Usually yes where they are part of the working set. Floating and shore discharge line, booster pumps and spud gear are all part of what makes the dredger productive, so list them fully. Items bought later can normally be added as their own agreement. Keep the supplier quotation itemised so nothing important is left off the schedule.
It strongly helps. Whether it is third party contracts or a documented internal maintenance programme for your own marina, the funder wants to see where the utilisation comes from. A machine bought speculatively with no work identified is a much harder case. Planned working hours per season are what a funder is really trying to establish.
Yes, and that is a common route once the annual cost of hiring contractors exceeds the cost of owning. The underwrite then rests on the marina business rather than on dredging income, and the machine is assessed as plant supporting a trading site. Several seasons of contractor invoices usually make that argument on their own.
Often, though it adds steps. The funder will want the specification verified, transport and commissioning arranged, and the ownership trail from the overseas vendor properly documented. Plan currency and timing early, because shipping and commissioning dates move more than anyone expects. Agree who is responsible for commissioning and for spares before the machine ships.
Get a quoteor call 07581 364281
See everything we fund in boat and marine finance →
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.