Nautical Antiques & Tropical Decor
2202 Ship Mechanic Row - Galveston, TX 77550
409-539-5469
email: piecesofship@yahoo.com

Annual buying trips...
Each year in November, we travel to the overseas breaking yards of India, Turkey and
Bangladesh in search of more nautical salvage.  We also visit areas in Indonesia every
other year for our custom, hand carved figureheads and boatwood furniture.

Most of the salvaged pieces pictured below are as we find them before we have them reconditioned, polished
and shipped back to our shop which takes about 6-9 months (and sometimes longer).

Our buying trips are a lot of work but a lot of fun!

 

 

 

 

Buying Trip November 2022:
Vessel salvage include pieces from (but not limited to) the following ships (scrapped, retro or refitted or renamed):
famed architect Renzo Piano's P&O cruise ship Karnika / Pacific Jewel (IMO#8521220),  Norwegian cruise ship MS Leisure World * aka Skyward * (IMO#6921828), Carnival cruise ship Ocean Dream (IMO#7915096), 
Norwegian Cruise Line's Marco Polo (IMO# 6417097), Carnival cruise ship 
Fascination (IMO #9041253), Finland-built Norwegian cruise ship Albatros (IMO#7304314),MV USL-1 Panama (IMO#7821831), MV Jingu Maru (IMO#9021423),
Pioneer P Kingstown,Trans Pacific 5 Panama, Mutha Supreme Portsmouth (IMO#8514112), Prayast Alofi (IMO# ), Baltic Highway Panama (IMO#9243461), M.V. 
Kita Alofi, Jose Bright Panama (IMO#8920361), MT Nurbano 1 Panama (IMO#8008383),
 
MED Tokyo Monrovia (IMO#7224291), tanker N/T Itaituba (IMO#8920505), cruise ship MV Amusement World (IMO# ), MV
 Ocean Highway Panama (IMO#9205988), French-built cruise ship MSC 
Melody (IMO#7902295, fomerly known as the Atlantic and then the Starship Atlantic),
 ro-ro / passenger ship
 Dahab (IMO#8317590),  crude oil tanker 
Sotra Spirit (IMO#9077343), German-built oil tanker Petrobulk Jaguar (IMO#8069515), chemical / oil tanker Da Qing 414 (IMO#7628954),  Albarella Kingston (IMO#8115332), 
Vrana Tide (9556351), MT Ace, M.T. Sunrise, MV Wugang Atlantic, ro/ro vehicles carrier Century Leader No. 3 Panama (IMO #8502468), bulker Pacific Bangshen I - formerly known as the Princess Castle - (IMO # 8301668),
cargo vessel Asia Star Hong Kong (IMO#9405136), multipurpose vessel CSO Centurion Basseterre (IMO #8029181), reefer
Hua Jian 109
Tarawa Kiribati (IMO#7929762)
,
bulker Phoenix - formerly known as the Nazli Poyraz Istanbul - Kingstown St. Vincent (IMO#7128215) , container ship Direct Eagle - Nassau (IMO #7526728), passenger ship / Ro-Ro cargo ship M/V Tobago - Kingstown (IMO #7013290 ),
bulk carrier MV Marvellous - Hong Kong (IMO #9579872), PM 203 (renamed Progress Synergy IMO# 9131333)



A field of old teak pieces in Indonesia...  the search begins!

Not a bad spot to stop for a rest...

Wood fishing boats - before they become
"reclaimed boat wood furniture and accessories"
for us!

Original wood fishing boat.  Soon to be a group of beautiful lifeguard chairs...

elaborately hand carved antique altar...

it's not ship salvage, but the pilot in him can't resist poking around this jet engine...

more beautiful boats in use before they're recycled...
 
 
Buying Trip November 2021: ALANG, India
Lots of passenger ships (cruise ships) are in Alang currently; they're not the favorite (read here) buy for those folks that make money in scrapping vessels as there's
not as much recoverable steel as there is in tankers or container ships.  Therefore, some sellers charge premium rates for items that have name recognition, such as liferings and oars.
Vessel salvage include pieces from (but not limited to) the following ships (scrapped, retro or refitted or renamed): Altus Optimus - Monrovia (IMO 8322662), Petrobulk Jaguar (IMO 8069515), Senshu Maru - Panama (IMO 8014473),
MS Albatros - Nassau (IMO 7304314) *cruise ship, Ocean Dream (IMO 7915096) *Carnival cruise ship, Mare Caribicum (IMO 9235086), Bali Sea (IMO 8106068), Karnika - Nassau (IMO 8521220) *Crown Princess, then Zen Cruises ship,
APL Japan (IMO 9074391), MV Savannah Pearl (IMO 8316699), Sulphur Garland (IMO 9209013), MT Alahan - Istanbul (IMO 8712154), Marco Polo (IMO 6417097) *German-built Soviet cruise ship, FSO Angsi (IMO 8029351),
M/T Taihua Glory, M/S Leisure World
(IMO #6921828), Grand Celebration (IMO #8314134), MV Magellan (IMO# 8217881), Carnival Fascination's Casino Royale (IMO #9041253)

Found on day 1: salvaged aluminum "Shin Ho" lights;
had them polished and wrapped up (above right) before we left!

a mountain of salvaged portholes to sift through...

Petrobulk Jaguar name board

Ocean Dream lifeboat oars

Ocean Dream liferings...

nice inclinometers with larger features...

bunk ladders from the Leisure World cabins..

deck plans from the M/S Leisure World.

Unicorn found: a beautiful wheel


Plastic floats; these have replaced the original glass versions
which we carry; click here...

This old lifeboat even has rivets!

Salvaged lifeboat / rescue boat from the Grand Celebration

some nice cargo nets... 
should arrive in-store around April/May 2022...

Thought this thing was cool so we picked it up!

Super unique - vintage police shields

Salvaged float lines - these are nice decor for pool houses
and decks.

"Notice: Due to the Covid-19 is still serious around the world,
for yours and our crews health. 
Please don't join in accomodation. - M/T Taihua Glory"
placard salvaged from said chemical/oil tanker vessel... 
IMO #9114505


Crockery is REALLY sparse.  Found a few pieces of
Odfjell and Sehir Hatlari.


 These solid mahogany ship doors are unicorns nowadays.
This one is in REALLY rough shape but it's got a great layout. 
It will refinish nicely.


Just another day in the breaking yard; always
yield to the herd passing through...

Man, this is one handsome guy. 
I'll take him! 
(And the Pub sign too)

This piano came out of a lounge from the Bahamian Cruise Line's
 Par A Dice Casino (formerly the Grand Celebration).  It did not survive the scrapping so well.  We passed on this - my back hurts to even look at it. 

To the mattresses!  Hard to believe that even these are recycled; locals
will buy these for use as is or they'll be stripped and the foam will be
used in construction applications. 
Michael dug past to find a few nice Soviet era world maps.

We got a super response to the reclaimed cruise ship teak deck tiles
we found 2 years ago and Michael was hoping to
uncover some more...  Eureka - found a load and they're pretty nice.

Our "pile" of purchases around day 2. 


Salvaged name board from the Sotra Spirit.  When it was decided it would be headed to the scrap yard, the name was changed to Tra Spirit.

Our compass pile and a few manual heading indicators which are
really hard to find.

Beauitful!  We found this copper lantern which was heavily
 patinated; a few minutes alone in a room with the polisher
and this is how she came out!

Many of these sextants are missing lenses or a scope here and there.  We grabbed a nearby inclinometer and an idea was born: make these pieces into eye candy dispays...  Picture to the right is the sample in process of the same sextant - after polishing, on a custom teak quadrant backer.

Our sample in process of one of the forlorn sextants -
they'll get a new life after polishing and mounting to a teak quadrant backer.
Should be in-store around May 2022...

Another pile of good stuff we're brining back; a ship's wheel,
nice lifeboat compass / lifeboat binnacle, an onion lifeboat lantern
and some cool old railroad lights.

Always good to find small original anchors. 
These are good yard art and don't require a forklift. 

Steamer trunks - dusty but in great shape.  Added to the pile.

Another rough ship door.  This one's brass deadlight was pilfered
 most likely to a scrapper for the raw brass value.

Old carved sea dragon corbels.  Teak wood.
In our pile they go!

Picked these really pretty brass rectangular portholes to make
into coffee tables; the gradual curve on the short edges
gives them a little extra "wow".

Here's a very large pile of very large line (rope). 

Salvaged patinated brass passageway lights;
heading to the polisher.

This sign has hung at the local airport in the city we go to in
India for almost 20 years.  It has always made me laugh.

Flying internationally amid covid restrictions means you
have to roll with things as they come.  Mandatory face shields
and microbial gowns for center seat passengers, okay!
Buying Trip November 2020: (Canceled: COVID international
travel restrictions...)

... but we still got out a bit here in the U.S.!

June - stopped at the border on the way to
Hot Springs National Park.

August - rode a passenger ferry (didn't take anything
for the shop, don't worry, WSDOT!) in Seattle, WA.

August - took in a gorgeous beach in La Push, WA.
(did not take a dip, though - burr!)

August - Olympic National Park.  Beautiful.
Go if you can!

August - Olympic Nat'l Park, WA.  The trees...

August - got to see the top part of Mt. Rainier on the way
home (saw the bottom half the day before and it was a beaut!) 

December - snow fell on us in Alpine, Texas and it was awesome.
 

December - hiked around Big Bend National Park
So pretty!
 

And we unloaded a few (6) containers in between,
so we got some work done too...
     
Buying Trip November 2019:
This year's visit to the ship breaking yard in India and to the wood carvers for custom figureheads and reclaimed boat wood furniture
in Indonesia was a great success.  We also took a detour for fun to Philippines!  *MOST ITEMS SALVAGED ON THIS TRIP ARRIVED IN-STORE APRIL 2020...  Watch the "New Arrivals"
section near the top of the homepage for alerts of recent shipments - OR join our email list to received notice when the shipments come in!
Vessel salvage include pieces from (but not limited to) the following ships (scrapped, retro or refitted or renamed): Altus Optimus - Monrovia (IMO 8322662), Cassendra - Panama, MG Shipping - Tokyo (IMO 9052343),
ATP Innovator - Houston (IMO  8754633), Alexita Spirit - Panama (IMO 9152507), WAN HAI 206 - Palau (IMO 9002702), Ocean Spur - Marshall Isl (IMO  8753275), Clara Maersk - Kiribati (IMO 8820016),
MV Chengtu - Hong Kong (IMO 9007362), MV APL Korea - Palau (IMO 9074535), NSS Confidence - Panama (IMO 9181625), MV Island Escape (aka Ocean Gala / Thomson Spirit) - Malta (IMO 8024014),
Harbour Ivory - Kuching (IMO 8887959), Bet Intruder - Douglas (
ISLE OF MAN) IMO 9061564         
India

what a start: super hard to source salvaged brass 4-dog portholes... 
These will be beautiful once they're polished

and a solid runner up: the salvaged aluminum porthole motherlode!
 

a nice, manageable sized salvaged anchor

a good haul of original brass ship lights, heading to the polish wheels

beautiful large copper and brass original foxlights -
 as they are taken off the vessels

picked up this stack of brass portholes...

and these nice short oars from the Altus Optimus

a stretcher taken from one of the ship's infirmaries

shopping bags don't really work for the stuff we buy...
so we grab a motorized cart and lots of string! 
...found some nice cargo and commando / scramble nets

we don't get to buy EVERYTHING we like at the breaking yards;
some treasures have to stay behind, such as this "safety officer"
who's owner was asking 21000 rupees...  It's a lot in US$s too!

at the breaking yard, nothing is wasted -everything is recycled,
reused or resold inlcuding the toilet paper which will be bought by locals

eureka - a beautiful wheel

lifeboat from the ATP Innovator - Houston

unique find - marker buoys in a large scale -
restaurants love these for authentic decor

climbing a stack of liferings to get to the cowls...
just another day in Alang

you just never know what you're going to find at the breaking yard...

storage containers from the ship's medical rooms

sounding boards off the Wan Hai

good sized marker buoy - super heavy though...

lifeboat hot tub?

these aluminum portholes will make nice coffee tables...

important to keep in mind that everything we buy starts out looking
pretty rough when we find it... these salvaged ship's anemometers
will look beautiful with the aluminum and brass components
polished but at the moment, they're not much to look at

yes!  found some crockery - WL, Sudan, Maersk, etc...

a nice big stack of salvaged ship's grates to send home...

gorgeous - square floor tiles of straight up teak... 
bought the whole lot! 

we found the treasure trove of casino chips last year from the
SeaEscape and this year came across a large stainless salad bar
complete with personalized sneeze guard!

beautiful 4" line - super hard to find

a cache of amazing ship artwork from the M/V Island Escape

placard from the M/V Island Escape

in a sea of crockery, it is truly a search to find anything
of interest these days among the plastic and blank pieces that
most ships use today

a good example of why ships use brass or aluminum for
lighting - it does not rust, unlike these iron lights that we passed up

these are brass - even with the paint layers and patina,
you can still unscrew the cage; no rust here!
*already have these in stock - check out the "ship lights" page for "right angle with face plate" to see how they look after being refurbished

heli-pod rescue/retrieval station

banners from the Discovery are reused by this
yard for shade

small bridge station

ship wayfinding and warning signs and placards

salvaged ship's infirmary bedframe - the cranks still work to raise and lower the head and foot portions!

huge curved window panel from a recently scrapped cruise ship

we're always keeping an eye out for "near miss" boxes...
found these two nice ones in good condition

self-contained bathroom pods came off working vessels;
many local markets buy these here in India

straight out of the on-board discotheque of the M/V Escape!

Bunkering instructions from the MV Chengtu

found the perfect copper nozzle to fit the ship's water cannon /
water monitor we found this year

yes!  found another beautifully curved aluminum porthole to convert into a table - the two we found last year turned out great and sold fast

another beauty!  look for this to arrive in-store around April 2020

what a find - very pretty large scale salvaged aluminum foxlights...
these will polish up beautifully

more "rusty gold" propellers

a very nice steamer trunk in a good medium size... finding these are like trying to find a needle in a haystack any more...

if you want the good bumpers, you gotta be willing to climb a
few hills to get them! 

Foundry visit! 
checking in on the first batch of new production aluminum foxlights...
This stage is casting the "arm" portion using a mold/pattern
of an original ship's foxlight that is now very hard to find...

Foundry visit: 
the "arm" portions of the new production aluminum foxlights we are
making are left to cool and will be ground down in the next step...

Foundry visit:
<almost> finished product!  turned out great - medium sized
aluminum foxlight with painted body (ours will feature brass conduit
 instead of the galvanized pipe shown in this sample,
making them 100% suitable for exterior use!)

Foundry visit:
All the "new production" lights we design, manufacture and carry
are made from reclaimed materials from ships.  Shown here are
various pieces of aluminum sourced from the breaking yards
 which will be melted down and reused in our new production lighting.

Foundry visit:
More aluminum scrap from the breaking yards that will be reused in our new production lighting.  Nice to know that GE refrigerator part will get a
new life as a light instead of sitting in a landfill!

had to go all the way to India to find something with our
hometown on it - great job on the "Galveston" find, Michael!

We love puppies!
This is a ship's rescue pod (the inflatable raft was stored inside the 2
halves that made a capsule) being cleverly reused as a bird/dog bath.
Indonesia

day one of our Indonesia leg...
These teak root stools were so comfortable and even had a
seat pattern carved out - picked up a few of these...

pretty, original blob-top bottles

cool old sign with fish motif

nice hand made seagrass baskets

reclaimed boatwood large square table... 
it's a low rider but very unique

love these birds of paradise statues

dug through a tapestry of cobwebs to get to these benches made
with the teak stair treads of ship's Jacob's ladders - they're
 crazy heavy but very cool

large old fishing dugout canoes...  We got the natural colored
one two from the right

trying out one of the new styles of reclaimed boatwood "sofas"
we had made...  comfortable!

we found a good example of where some of our "rustic boatwood
small stools
" are salvaged from the boats; note the flat shelf-like part
 near the stern; that is what is used for the stool top and the holes
 in the stool are where the upright members went

more detail of the image shown to the left; the piece of the fishing boats
we reuse as a stool top...

always enjoy trying local fare...  yes, this is a fried leaf... 
and it was delicious

adorable!  pieces of teak root are assembled and shaped to form this egret and his buddy the duck...  in store around April 2020...

amazing to see how skilled these carvers are; you can still see
the root structure at the bottom of this tree which is being
carved - by hand - into a female form...

the same carver is making TEN of these full sized dinosaur
skeletons for a museum in Thailand - he carves every piece by hand
 and it will take him about 9 months to do finish

pretty desktop sized carved Suar mermaids...  picked up
a batch of these in kneeling pose and reclining

what a show stopper - this massive teak root has a stunning siren carved in relief...  This is due in-store around April 2020...

a local barber shop in Bali mirrored these salvaged rectangular
aluminum portholes AND used salvaged brass oval 4-bar lights
 as wall sconces - we love it!

these "coats of armor" are actually carved out of petrified wood!
 The artist has to use a grinding tool because the wood is so hard...

Petrified wood fish!  For those that don't know (I didn't!),
petrified wood is basically fossilized trees or plants that
have become stone through a mineralization process over time... 
These guys had to be carved with a grinder because the
material is so hard.

these wood portions of the old dugout fishing vessels are elaborately carved and will make nice hall tree stands once we add hooks

wooden swirling fish scene

hand made rope knotted whale tails!  in-store around April 2020...

he's "knot" nautical, but he sure is cute!  all hand made,
hand knotted rope art

hand carved teak root "happy fish" on stand -
due in store April 2020

nice salvaged EOT head... from the breaking yards
on Karimunbesar Island

very colorful Balinese ceremonial dugout fishing boat

creative shell Christmas tree

nice detail on this wood seahorse

picking out some old fishing boat hulls to make into shelves

salvaged navigational charts from Karimunbesar Island

more ship salvage from Karimunbesar Island

ship salvage: smaller EOTs

a nice salvaged ship's brass bell; this one was cracked
so we had to pass...
   
Philippines: Manila, Palawan & Coron

exploring the underground river in Puerto Princesa, Palawan

caving by boat - only in Philippines!

passing another boat; the only light is by headlamp from the captain

the caves have amazing rock formations; this one is
 appropriately called the "mushroom"

in Coron, the water is unbelievably beautiful - clear to the bottom
and a snorkeler's & diver's paradise

the water along the beach of the inhabited parts of the
city is a bit muddier

the first mate on our boat ride exploring the islands stands at the ready

721 steps to the top of Mount Tapyas...  took a rest here,
somewhere in the 500s...

at the summit of Mount Tapyas and the city of Coron below...
 

at the Manquinit Hot Spring...

some resourceful folks made their own b-ball hoop with logs

what a view on one of the last nights in Philippines

in Manila at Fort Santiago and the walled city of Intramuros -
they didn't want to entertain offers on the cannons though...

monument at Rizal park
   

had the whole cove to ourselves...  well, us and the millions of sea urchins (every black spot in the water is a cluster of them!)... just amazing...
Buying Trip November 2018:
Incredible India: ship breaking yard in Alang, sightseeing in Jaipur, metal casting near Delhi,
hiking in the Himalayan mountains of Manali... Items sourced on this buying trip arrived June 2019...
Vessel salvage include pieces from (but not limited to) the following ships: MT Arabian Horse - Monrovia, M/T Stolt Markland, M/V Hanjin Taipei, Hansa Lubeck (Barbados flagged reefer),
Ultra Spirit, Everest, Stolt Jade, Albarell - Kingston, LPG/C Maharastra, BW Havis - Oslo (LPG Tanker), Aegean Queen (Palau cruise/passenger ship), Gow Hunter, Sea Escape

good find!  picked up 2 large "scramble nets" - used
 in multi-person rescue or evacuation operations

salvaged brass passageway lights by Pauluhn (Houston manufacturer);
will be stripped and polished

beautiful wood, very old, small vessel block
pulleys "Gothic arched"

picked a good supply of original ship block pulleys - this one has a unique adaptation with a bollard affixed to it

this original small vessel anchor has a great shape - we'll
use it as a pattern to recast some new production versions
 in iron

and these original anchors will be in the next 2020 container...
200-300 lbs/each

rare find! all original copper and brass XXL foxlights

treasure found! 
casino chips from the FL day cruise ship Sea Escape

found some good salvaged fishing net...

one of the many items more difficult to source year after year is original ship/rig crockery... these came from one the Mexican oil company "Pemex Refinacion"'s drilling rigs which was scrapped in Alang, India

...by comparison to the unique salvaged original crockery we
scrounge for, this is what most vessels use today - plastic dishware...

great find - copper and brass all original foxlights in "small" size...  eta to the store after refurbishing June 2019

rolls of salvaged ship's Jacobs / pilot ladders

salvaged original brass "right angle" passageway lights - check out the ones we have in stock all stripped and polished on the "ship lights" page

cool piece - Ship Identification Number placard put out by the Marine Director of the Panama Canal: #789399

some good warning signage - eta in store around June 2019

we sourced a LOT of original brass portholes of all sizes... looking forward to getting these in store all polished up... this particular one features the porthole cover with manufacture's stamp "Marhill MFG Inc, Smithville Texas"

some more great brass portholes and deadlights (fixed windows);
ready to be stripped and polished for us

Michael isn't afraid to climb, dig or dive to find the best pieces for the shop...  the good ones are always hiding on the bottom of the pile!

a rare unique brass porthole; the t-bar knob at the top left of the pic actually twists the frame/bezel of the porthole window frame to align the grooves in the back frame which frees the front part of the window to swing open...  we've never come across this style before and are pretty excited to see them (only 2!) refurbed and polished

some great narrow ship stair sections...

more original brass portholes - all of these will be completed with new dogs/keys where any are missing, completely stripped and polished -
arriving eta around June 2019

bingo!  a beautiful, very old ship's wheel - in great condition...
arrving circa June 2019

a couple more nice wheels found... but my prize of the day
was this adorable primitive local art made from tree
roots - I think it's a lamb but I know it is 100% adorable

great news - a few more wheels found here...
these are so rare anymore...

and the honey hole for stainless steel appliances/tables/accessories - all salvaged off the ships scrapped here in Alang and resold to local markets, maritime industry, hoteliers, etc...

a common sight in India - cows and water buffalos have
free reign to wander almost anywhere they want

original brass water cannon... super cool piece...  eta June 2019...

Jaipur is the "Pink City" and capital of India's state of Rajasthan
...  an entryway to "City Palace", built 1729-1732

at "City Palace", an elaborately painted peacock themed
entry to one of the courtyards

detail of the peacock doorway

saw a bunch of "world's largest" things...  this one is a gigantic urn
made entirely of silver...  there we are in the reflection touristing
 the place up waving to the urn...

apparently the world's largest cannon on wheels, this one was named "Jaivana"; it is at the top of the Jaigarh Fort and took something like 36 oxen to drag up there...  Jaipur was known for its cannon manufacturing and was the world's most efficient cannon foundry in the mid 1600s

the Hawa Mahal Palace (aka "Palace of Winds") with its 953 windows - made of sandstone for the Maharaja's concubines to be able to look out over the city streets without being seen by the people when not wearing appropriate face coverings

the 18th century Jal Mahal Palace (aka "Water Palace")

Here it is without our heads in the way...  it's not open to visitors
so this is about as close as one can get

view from one of the 9 concubine's living quarters in the palace inside the Nahargarh Fort, built 1734

roof terrace at Nahargarh Fort

one of our favorite places (probably because of the somewhat rare presence of grass and trees) - Sisodiya Rani Ka Bagh, one of the princess's palaces with gardens, built 1728

from 90 degrees one morning to 31 degrees that evening...  the snow-capped roofs of Hidimba Devi temple in the Himalayan mountains of Manali, India - built 1553

the Himalayan mountains behind one of the Vashisht Village temples near Jogini Falls in Manali

our view of the Himalayans on the hike to the falls

a Himalayan yak fully dressed and on his commute to work
(taking pics with tourists)
 
Buying Trip November 2017:
Turkey - India - Indonesia - Japan
This year's trip was fantastic: we found a LOT of great salvage and somewhere between Turkey and India, the Astros won the World Series.
Scrap steel prices are up which means ships are being scrapped so India, home to the world's largest breaking industry, did not disappoint.
We commissioned a lot of great new carvings and figureheads with the super skilled wood craftsmen in Indonesia and picked up some
beautiful boatwood furniture and some ship salvage from some of the very small boat yards around Java and Bali. 
Japan was really just a layover on the way home but it was our first time there so you'll see a couple shots of the beautiful scenery below...
  Turkey 2017
at the breaking yard in Turkey; lots of salvaged line

brass Robinson telegraph receiver amid other salvage

piles of salvaged teak ship's grates in the foreground of
a salvaged ship's bridge/wheelhouse

salvaged aluminum portholes

a polished brass Oceanic light

Michael next to one of the diesel engines being refurbished

Yeni Foca marina near Aliaga, Turkey

Jacob's ladders, lifeboat and ship hulls

Lifeboat / Rescue boat from the Tiger Sea; Turkish flagged general cargo ship built 1983, scrapped 2013
(note how small the brass propeller is between the
rudder and the hull)

mahogany ship doors

a ship docked i
n Izmir

a davit with lifeboat / rescue boat and a 2200 kg
anchor (that's almost 5,000 lbs)

the ship breaking (which includes offshore oil platforms and drilling rigs) industry in Aliaga, Turkey

ship breaking industry in Aliaga, Turkey
India 2017
items we purchased were salvaged from ships including the MV Pacific Breeze (Marshall Islands registered Reefer built 1990),
NPS Orana (Thailand registered wood carrier built 1991), YM Los Angeles (MI container ship built 2006), Iron King (United Kingdom carrier built 1996), MV Dona Maria
(Liberian bulk carrier built 1983), CMA CGM Quetzal (AKA Dorikos Cyprus container ship built 1996), MS Alberto Topic (MI cargo ship built 2015; still active),
MV Wealthy Ocean (Panamanian cargo ship built 1985), MV Jubilee (AKA "Henna" - Carnival Cruise ship built 1985)
     
various salvaged brass door placards

salvaged brass 4-dog portholes...  these are getting harder to find in every breaking yard...

wheels!  very difficult to source nowadays since a joystick or small aluminum wheel is used onboard modern vessels

salvaged aluminum rectangular deadlights

more hard to find items: small salvaged brass
and copper foxlights! 

some fun ship salvaged artwork

salvaged crockery (salt/pepper shakers)
from the Sea Pioneer

salvaged wooden cargo boxes, mostly from Russian ships

interesting "single fluke kedge" style anchors

found a nice large one but we decided there's
 such a thing as "TOO big"

watertight doors with the wheel handle locking
mechanism... VERY heavy

some fun warning signs/advertisements off the
dismantled ships

checking for the "all clear" in the engine room from this
modern control panel

yes, they're phones from ships... Just not the style
we are looking for...

Eureka: beautiful hatch covers.  super hard to
find these days...

another increasingly-difficult-to-source salvaged item:
ship crockery, specifically intact mugs... we bought
all we could find.

salvaged lifeline spools...

salvaged lifeline spool instructions

when the portholes ripped off the ships and are NOT salvaged, the metal ends up in the melt pile and the glass ends up in piles here... 

salvaged sounding boards from the UK registered
ship Iron King, IMO 9108300

some high quality thick gauge fishing nets

desktop organizer from one of the Asian
 registered vessels includes a spot for
Load Plan and Watch Schedule

laundry carts off one of the passenger
(cruise, ferry or ro-ro) vessels

tons of weight lifting equipment likely from the Carnival
cruise ship M/S Jubilee (AKA Henna)

one of the 15 mahogany ship doors with deadlight
window we picked out... eta in store April 2018...

aboard the "Gow Hunter" being actively dismantled; nice brass portholes...

on a vessel visit, looking out of a couple brass rectangular deadlights (fixed portholes) that we will bring home once they're removed from the ship!
Indonesia 2017
antique, hand carved primitive fish art; it wasn't for sale
but was cool...

hand carved wood - primitive fish

reclaimed boatwood picture frames

an old-school mail box off an Indonesian ship! 

hand carved octopus - amazing detail and a different
design than ones we carried before...

another new design for a carved Suar wood turtle
end table: stacked turtles!  we have 2 of these
coming (eta April 2018)...

beautiful! mermaid carved in relief into a teak root; this
and a number of other one-of-a-kind carvings heading
 our way soon...

pieces of teak carved into sea life and stained; each
one is completely unique

taking some time out to lunch in one of the most beautiful
settings in Bali...

the wind meter is salvaged from a ship yard in Java
and the artist combines those pieces with lights
and pipe to create art...

a fun rhino head boat which has been converted to a bar

warning signs of high voltage from a Balinese ship

fire extinguisher box salvaged from a Java ship yard

A: you can't beat this company and B: you can't beat having your drinks served with fresh cut frangipani

some beautiful antique hand made cargo boxes with brasswork and inlay; these were VERY expensive but we have some similar coming out of the breaking yards in India that will be just as nice once cleaned up...

highlight find!  authentic ship wheels from Java;
we'll take 'em!

some nicely painted hulls of wood fishing boats that are
on the chopping block to be made into furniture - we
 picked the one in the back to be made into a shelf

salvaged wood fishing boat with interesting
 prow detail

salvaged teak chairs from a ferryboat out of
Java - these and a few others heading
our way in 2018

a mini version of the elaborately decorated fishing boats; these are used in ceremonies in Indonesia and we picked up a few.  They are super detailed...

Indonesians love the Bird of Paradise - this primitive
wood carving is from Java

can't go to Bali without visiting the monkeys...

gorgeous, elaborate detail in this wood carving of a
mermaid in underwater scene - it's all one piece of wood!

like clockwork, this is what happened every day at 3:30pm.  Even rain in this country is beautiful though.
Japan 2017

perfect timing to see the Japanese Maple trees turning colors:
 at Naritasan Park

the master chefs of the Unagi (eel) in Narita

trying the Unagi

near the Naritasan Shinsoji Temple (1,000+ year old history)
Buying Trip November 2016:
India - <Turkey> - France
This year's trip was initially supposed to include Turkey, but due to the tumultuous state of the government there following the military coup in July,
we had to scrap that plan at the last minute.  Luckily, there was a lot of great salvage at the India ship breaking yard and we had extra time to do a personal
vessel inspection on board the Thor Energy, IMO 9074781, a Singapore registered bulk carrier 185 meters long (over 600').  The ship was only built in 1994
and already at the scrap yard which shows how quickly the lifespan of ships continues to shorten.
     
at the breaking yard plot where Thor Energy was beached
the week before our arrival - they had already begun the
process of removing the diesel fuel, oil, hazmat substances, etc...

a container ship with only 1/4 left to dismantle

this container ship was nearly finished and the
dismantle process had just reached the ship's funnel

the MSC Manu next in line to be scrapped -
the Manu was built in 1989, a Panamanian registered container ship, IMO# 8613322

a vessel with a double hull had the outside hull removed
and scrapped first - then they moved on to the inner shell...

a rig being dismantled and the parts scrapped -
we got a lot of great wood salvage off the rigs

from the starboard deck of the Thor Energy, you can see the tide is out, exposing the muddy beach... the red pipe is labeled "steering gear"

next to the anchor chain of the Thor Energy before boarding

before boarding the vessel, at low tide next to the hull -
these are some big ships!

not the typical way to board, but this is how we do it in India - a rickety ladder propped against a hole cut in the hull about 30' up in the air

Michael inspecting one of the holes made to release ballast water... he wanted to see if he could crawl under the ship to the other side but was voted down...

from inside one of the cargo holds looking up to the
main deck

climbing out of the cargo hold up to the main deck

Finally! Inside the bridge and you can see the instrument panel above the center window, the aluminum deadlight windows which are fixed, though the one to the left of the center is a porthole and opens/closes to let in air...  All the wiring and instruments are first to be stripped out.

inspecting the engine room - it was pitch black
in there and pretty eerie

next to the bridge under the name board of the Thor Energy - see the rectangular hole behind us as they already started ripping out the aluminum porthole windows... Everything you see in this picture will be recycled... (Except for us!)

Emergency Steering Operation (Failure of Gyro/Auto Pilot System) Instructions in the aft most section of the engine room

Michael getting some air next to the repeater
compass on the port side bridge wing

one of the crew's cabins - this lucky mariner had 3 windows in his cabin

many customers inquire about how the exterior side of a porthole is finished on a ship when they intend to use one on their homes.  As you can see here, it's pretty plain.

exiting onto the main deck

stern lights on the Thor Energy

walking back toward the bow - note the Jacob's ladder just behind the steel hatch (which each weigh about 40kg)

always watch your step on deck

back to the breaking yard - picking some good
 rope fenders/bumpers

and we found some nice wood and metal fenders...

a good batch of ship doors - these will arrive around April/May...

great anchor chain - it's a nice small manageable size

some beautiful mahogany deck railing from a passenger/cruise ship - we bought a lot of this stuff and are having some gorgeous brass end caps custom made to fit

lifering from the "Island Of Luck", registered in Panama
- this vessel has some shady history

the name boards from the Huasteco, a work vessel built in 1960 registered in Mexico.  The backsides of these boards were even cooler and they read "Sea Lion I" which appears to be an active Chemical Tanker registered in the Marshall Islands...

Some awesome huge brass deadlights with safety bars - largest we've seen around 22" OD

brass Oceanic 90 degree curved passageway lights as
 they were salvaged from the ship before being
stripped and polished

XL salvaged aluminum deadlights

crockery! we found some great pieces on this trip which was a surprise as this stuff is very hard to find anymore

cutting some fish netting to size... with an axe...

Capacity Plan from the M.V. True Brothers, IMO #8316522
built 1985, bulk carrier registered in Belize, scrapped in July

a good batch of salvaged mahogany ship doors we'll have refinished - this one reminds those on board of the requirement "Helmets beyond this point"

a beautiful large brass deadlight - we'll have this one stripped, polished and made into a coffee table

some nice lifeboat oars in the original wood finish

some more salvaged aluminum 4 bar lights - these polish
up very nicely

large brass portholes - these were salvaged from a Greek (Piraeus) passenger ferry in the Aegean Sea (Hellenic Seaways); we'll have them stripped and polished

aluminum portholes; about 40-60 come off each vessel 

salvaged aluminum search light - we picked out a pair of these large lights

Yes!  More salvaged wheels... So hard to find...

picking through more ship doors...

Michael made a friend wandering around the yards...

And I was pretty excited to find a Charlie Brown
Christmas tree among the piles...
Italy/France 2016

Elvis sighting at the airport!

In Savona, Italy a resourceful fisherman uses inflated soccer balls as bumpers and fishing floats

shrimpers in the Savona harbor

we couldn't pass this place up and commend them
on their decor

a bronze mermaid statue on the dock

this vessel was docked at the harbor in Marseilles - no scrap yards in its future

also docked in Marseilles was this interesting vessel which had some good examples of items we salvage including doors, passageway lights, liferings and porthole windows

obligatory picture after bicycling to the top of
Mont Boron in Nice, France
Buying Trip November 2015:
Bangladesh - India - Indonesia
This year's visit to the ship breaking yards of Bangladesh and India,
then to Indonesia for custom wood carvings and decor.
  Bangladesh 2015
At one of the slips at the breaking yard - note the red circle behind us is a worker to give an idea of scale.

big anchors

medium sized copper and brass foxlights

double stacked Masthead copper running light

galvanized onion lantern

digging to find old grates

brass ship's bell

large sized brass, copper and steel foxlights

barometers

ship grates

more workers at the breaking yard

anchor chain

modern steering station

plastic fishing floats

pneumatic foghorn

modern steering station

brass ship's bell  from the Maersk Poplar

this ship is almost finished being scrapped
India 2015
eureka - some good wood wheels

aluminum "to boats" placards

aluminum escape hatches

brass 4 bar lights

1900 kg anchor = 4188 lbs

different style anchor

iron cowls/air vents/ air scoops

railing and wood decking; most of this is teak or mahogany

wood grinding base

large steamer trunks with brass embellishments

a few more very nice ship wheels

some 15' red and white lifeboat oars

salvaged line 1" to 2" gauge

rectangular brass inside-out portholes / escape hatches

handheld military style compass

20" OD brass portholes - 22 of them, all taken off the MC Ocean Star Pacific (not to be confused for the Pacific/Pacific Princess which was scrapped in Turkey; see photos of that vessel below from our 2013 trip)

very nice large wheel

very cool wood capstan
Indonesia 2015

old grinding base

new production grates in our custom sizes using salvaged teakwood from scrapped boats

new production buxom lady figurehead

more of the new production grates made with salvaged boat teak

beautifully crafted apothecary dresser from salvaged / reused boatwood

hand carved suar wood sea turtle and baby

old teak root made into stools

on the beach in front of one of the colorful outrigger boats; when fisherman switch to lighterweight fiberglass canoes, they sell these beautifully decorated teakwood boats which are then recycled, reused and repurposed into accessories, furniture and art

teakwood root bowl

made from salvaged boatwood, these cut out letters are unique and still have their original paint

we love the shape and construction of the reuse teak boatwood furniture - with original color

one of the old colorful boats and a great old wood rudder with original color

these wood panels were salvaged from old fishing canoes

table for 10 - made with original reused boatwood

teak root coffee table

gorgeous tamarind wood stools

bronze sea turtle

reused boatwood furniture - adirondack chairs

slabs of the hull of a fishing canoe are used to make the seat and back of this beautiful bench

the original color from the reused boatwood makes each piece unique

hand carved suar wood fish - these are about 5' tall and double sided

teak root carving - mermaid in relief

stone carvings of tropical underwater and floral scenes

two of our new, custom hand carved wall
mounted mermaid figureheads
Buying Trip 2014:
Turkey - India
This year we rented a huge van (a la American Pickers) and drove down the west coast of Turkey around the Sea of Marmara
and along the Aegean Sea stopping at every boat yard we came upon.  We found some great salvage and headed off to India
with some great new <old> stuff and in search of even more!
Turkey 2014
The Istanbul II at work - still a long way from the scrap yard

a lifeboat from the Japanese Ferry Bni Nsar

brass 4-bar lights after polishing

block pulleys after reconditioning

teak handrails with brass endcaps

Chadburn telegraph

some nice pie shaped grates

lifeboat oars

seats from the lifeboat of a Togo flagged general cargo ship "Breadbox Acacia"

aluminum running lights after polishing

brass bell 1980 Liberte

gunbay sounding boards

The Moldovan general cargo ship M/V Zakmar being cut up for scrap

boarding the M/V Zakmar while she was being scrapped - probably not OSHA approved!

inside the vessel once we reached the top of the ladder

teak or mahogany ship doors

hitting the local fish market for dinner

And back in Istanbul waiting for the next ferry
India 2014

crew whereabouts board

lifeboat #1 from the Star Prince, a Zanzibar flagged general cargo ship IMO #7625706

storage / cargo boxes from a Russian flagged vessel

fiberglass lifeboat escape hatch

lifeboat oars

sextants

binnacle compass by John Lilley & Gillie Ltd England

electric ship log

alminum instrument panel

brass builder's plate Chantiers Du Nord Et De La Mediterranee Dunkerque 1986

brass builder's plate FIAT

brass double stacked running light

copper single stacked running light

architectural salvage transoms

steamer trunks

aluminum running lights

canvas lifeboat anchors

who DOESN'T need this on their door?!  "No admittance without permission -Master"

hostess stand from the United Kingdom flagged container ship Maersk Darlington IMO# 9005558

A framed notice called "Bar Guidelines" from the Iron Prince bulk carrier vessel, IMO# 8018041, reminds us that no "crew member or visitor shall consume more than 4 units of alcohol in any 24 hour period"

tank sounding board

ship's recycle bins

teak and mahogany handrails

from the M/V Dalmatia, a Singapore flagged general cargo ship, IMO# 9548835

a vessel's code and country flag storage cabinet

searching for better furniture in the shipyard - it's pretty hard with all the plywood

crockery - this is becoming harder to find

20" OD brass portholes - before polishing

two unique EOTs

miles of jacob's ladders

ship's water cannons

aluminum rectangular portholes - before polishing

a few of the running and cargo lights as they come off the ships - coated with paint and patina

two brass tranberg running lights before polishing

ship's comment box

some ship doors before refinishing
2013
Turkey - India
This trip to Turkey was slightly easier and more fruitful as our learning of the language had progressed a bit beyond "where's the bathroom" and
"coffee please".  We got to see a few of the ships up close and board a couple that were actively being scrapped.
After buying all we could at the breaking yard, we visited the ancient city of Ephesus and the Deniz Musei (Museum of the Sea).
Found lots of great salvage in India although the supply of certain items has become really hard to find including any brass or copper
lighting (especially foxlights), crockery and ship wheels.
      Turkey 2013

Sunrise over the Aegean Sea in Izmir, Turkey

some medium sized foxlights before being stripped of paint and polished

The worker in the foreground is standing in front of a massive pile of salvaged copper wire and tubing that will be sold and recycled

Murat is a polishing genius - he uses a soft buffer on a polish wheel and takes the patina right off the copper binnacle hood

The salvaged bow with beautiful brasswork would make a great bar.  It's too wide to fit into a container, though.

a nice wheel on gears

a shipping line logo on the mast of one of the vessels being scrapped - below the Turkish flag

three vessels lined up being scrapped

vessels being scrapped

rescue boat from the Lady Lamina

a passenger / cruise ship being dismantled

ship's mast and funnel

a ro-ro vessel being cut up and dismantled

a porthole window from the outside of the bridge

some nice anchor chain

two carriers await being dismantled

the skyline of crane tops and masts at the breaking yard

scrap iron with a shipping line's logo attached

more vessels being scrapped

landside - the "door pile"

day trip to Ephesus, Turkey (built 356 BC)

architectural column at Ephesus

the Great Theatre at Ephesus

the library at Ephesus

Galata Tower from the ground in Instanbul, Turkey

from the top of the Galata Tower over Istanbul

taking a Bosphorus cruise on the Sehir Hatlari ferry

on the Bosphorus ferry

nice doors on the ferry

fishing vessels along the coast

At the Deniz Musei in Istanbul

rectangular brass portholes at the Deniz Musei

One of the Ataturk era caiques (term for traditional fishing boat on the Ionian sea) used between the 1920s and 1930s; note the grates in the seat and below

grates in another Ataturk caique

next to the 8' Albatross figurehead from the year 1830

below the similarly sized lion figurehead
India 2013
shipyard builder plate from Osaka Japan as found in the
salvage yard

interesting ship doors with square windows

A nice Japanese EOT pre-stripping and polishing;
this one may have been recently scrapped as it's not entirely covered in dirt yet...

various sized line

a pair of nice aluminum search lights off the bow

a sea of aluminum foxlights

lots of aluminum portholes

a rescue boat's medic stretcher

rescue boat from the Ducky Symphony, a Panamanian flagged ro-ro cargo vessel IMO# 7713280

sounding board of transfer procedures for the German flagged Hanjin Punta Arenas container ship built in 1995 and scrapped this year IMO# 9110561

rescue raft equipment

rescue boat from the Philadephia

found crockery but much of it is plain white - harder to find pieces with the company flag or funnel

mostly white, non logo-ed crockery

a sign reminds those coming to the breaking yard of the potential for accidents

some nice steamer trunks

the "carriage goods" trucks that travel to and from the breaking yard all day, every day with the bridge of a ship being dismantled in the background

a truck load of rubber being taken from the scrap yard to be resold

carpooling, India style

compact vehicles, Indian style

and of course you learn to share the road when travelling in India

getting in a quick game of cricket with some neighborhood kids

At the "India Gate" in Mumbai
2012
India - Turkey (-Hungary & Czech Rep.)
Started this voyage in sunny India and got progressively colder the farther north we traveled.  We did NOT pack accordingly!
In Turkey, we got to see the Pacific (aka MS Pacific / Pacific Princess / The Love Boat) but only from afar as it was
 under quarrantine following a recent fatal explosion on board that was caused by gasses leaked during the scrapping.
Budapest, Hungary and Prague, Czech Republic don't have breaking yards, but they're both on major rivers so we checked them out for fun...
  India 2012
passageway lights waiting to be stripped and polished

different style brass 4-bar light

copper and brass signal light - Japanese origin,
before stripping and polishing

liferings

some scrapped block pulleys before being reconditioned

a scrapped deadeye

aluminum foxlights before stripping

salvaged line

lifeboat oars - and perhaps the only tree in Alang

scrapped aluminum portholes before stripping

an anemometer as it was salvaged from the ship

medium sized copper and brass foxlight as salvaged from the vessel before polishing

scrapped aluminum portholes

small scrapped iron wheels

salvaged crockery; there are PILES of this stuff everywhere - we have to dig through and find pieces that match

some crockery was salvaged from the ship with food
 still in it - yuk, but nothing in the breaking yard
is ever clean
Turkey 2012:
Istanbul to Izmir and the ship breaking yard in Aliaga.

Istanbul

instruments waiting to be polished and refurbished

this was too large and clunky to load into a container

a couple nice kedge anchors

mountains in the backround on the Aegean Sea
in the breaking yard

air vents/cowls headed to scrap

an anemometer after polishing in one of the slip owner's showroom

some scrapped ship doors

looking for some good doors

a vessel being stripped of any fuel or hazardous liquids before the cutting starts

rescue boats

aluminum portholes

scrapped grates being used as a gangway

some small fishing vessels

a buoy

boarding the vessel mid-scrap

at least they made us wear hard hats!

vessels docked with little to no space between actively being scrapped

a rescue boat as a pleasure craft

The Pacific, formerly known as the MS Pacific, Pacific Princess and The Love Boat - she was listing badly following a fatal accident and explosion on board during the preliminary stages of dismantle
2012: Hungary & Czech Republic

from the "Buda" side looking across the Danube to "Pest"

the funicular

a waterway between homes in Prague

on Prague's Vltava river next to the
Charles Bridge built in 1402
2011: India - China
2009: India - Indonesia - China
2008: hiatus due to damage to shop from Hurricane Ike; relocated business from 23rd Street to 2202 Mechanic in Galveston