10.4.5.3Vertical

Salvage & Emergency Response

Companies providing marine salvage and emergency towing.

Market snapshot

These figures describe Marine Services & Chandlering (10.4.5), the segment that Salvage & Emergency Response sits within. They are not figures for Salvage & Emergency Response on its own.

Market size
~$5.0B
Growth
~2.9%CAGR (2017–22, nominal)
Companies
~882 firms
Firms by employee count

85.4% of firms have fewer than 20 employees: 753 micro-businesses, below most mandates.

The investable universe129 firms with 20+ employees
20–99
8163%
100–499
2519%
500+
2318%

The slowest-growing maritime segment, and a services business rather than an asset one, with pilotage, navigation support and vessel provisioning sold port by port. Local franchise and berth relationships are the whole moat.

NAICS 488330. U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses; U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census.

Business model & economics

Revenue model

Ship-supply, bunkering, and marine-service fees

Key economics

Revenue per firm
$5,647,855
Revenue per employee
$363,394
Employees per firm
15.5
Recurring revenue
Moderate

recurring vessel-call supply

EBITDA margin
Low-margin, volume-driven
Capex intensity
Low

Characteristics

  • Scale-driven: payroll is only 25% of revenue, so the cost base is assets, not headcount
  • Thin strategic-buyer pool: only 23 firms exceed 500 employees, so exits skew sponsor-to-sponsor
  • Supplies provisions, stores, fuel, and equipment to ships.
  • Essential but low-margin and fragmented.
  • Alternative marine fuels reshaping bunkering.

NAICS 488330. U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses; U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census.

M&A deal context

Deal activityModerate

Who’s acquiring

  • Ship chandlers & bunker suppliers
  • Marine-service consolidators
  • PE-backed platforms

What’s driving deals

  • Marine-service consolidation.
  • Alternative-marine-fuel bunkering.
  • Vessel-call and maritime activity.

Find Salvage & Emergency Response acquisition targets

Search Acquisera’s index for companies classified under Salvage & Emergency Response (10.4.5.3) and build a targeted deal pipeline.

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