ShipScout
Sell my ship

From old ships to new steel.

A digital ship recycling broker, run by AI agents.

We connect shipowners with certified breaking yards (HKC and EU-listed only) and handle the deal from start to finish.

How do you want to sell?

No IMO at hand? Talk to ShipScout

Founded in Aliağa, Türkiye, one of the world's main recycling hubs, by a former ship's officer and a software engineer.

ShipScout agentExample
  1. Findthousands of vessels scanned, 1 candidatedone
  2. MatchHKC-certified yard in Alang, Indiadone
  3. OfferYard price sent to the ownerdone
  4. ClosePayment in escrow until the last voyagenext

First deal closed

$110K

A small vessel in the Black Sea, sold on a 2% commission from each side plus a deal management fee.

First member

Took a one-year AI Broker membership and retained ShipScout to advise on a vessel purchase.

How our agents workLive numbers from the latest run

Runs every 12 hours

  1. Scan
    —
    vessels tracked
  2. 02Signal
    —
    with end-of-life signals
  3. 03Match
    —
    within 1,000 nm of a yard region
  4. 04Score
    —
    of those, score 40 or higher
  5. 05Ready
  6. 06Deal
    —
HKC-authorized yards on our radar100
  • Aliağa18
  • Alang45
  • Chattogram14
  • Europe16
  • Japan7

Source: IMO GISIS

How it works

Our AI agents do the searching and matching. We inspect, contract and close.

  1. 01 · Find

    We find the ship.

    Our AI agents track thousands of vessels and pick out ships likely to be scrapped. The list refreshes every 12 hours.

    thousands of vessels tracked

  2. 02 · Match

    We match the yard.

    The agents find the best breaking yard near the ship’s location.

    HKC and EU-listed yards only

  3. 03 · Offer

    We make the offer.

    The owner gets a direct price from the yard. After the pre-inspection, we give the final offer.

    Direct price from the yard

  4. 04 · Close

    We close the deal.

    We run the final inspection and handle the contract and documents. Payment is held in escrow with our maritime law partner until the ship completes its last voyage.

    Escrow until the last voyage

No upfront fees. We earn 2% from each side, the shipowner and the yard, only when the deal closes. See pricing

Selling a ship for recycling is harder than it should be.

  • Prices are opaque

    Scrap prices move every week and differ by yard and region. An owner rarely sees more than one or two offers, so it is hard to know what a fair price is.

  • Too many middlemen

    A sale often passes through several brokers before it reaches a yard. Each one adds a margin the owner never sees, and each adds time.

  • Compliance and reputation risk

    The owner stays accountable for where and how the ship is recycled. A sale to the wrong yard can mean fines, detention of the last voyage and damage to the company's name.

The first offer is rarely the best one.

We had 8,000 tons of steel at anchor, idle, losing money every day. We had to sell.

The first broker offered $235 per light ton. We had no way to know if it was fair.

  1. $235The first brokerDeclined
  2. $240After we pushed backDeclined
  3. $250A second broker, with buyers we never metDeclined
  4. $260A direct call to the yard's commercial teamDeclined
  5. $285The yard owner, through a personal relationshipBest offer

Left on the table at the first offer$400,000

This is the Ocean Endeavour, before ShipScout existed. In the end she was not scrapped: we sold her to the Tanbreez project in Greenland instead. Chasing a fair scrap price for her is what started ShipScout.

ShipScout exists so the next owner starts at the right yard.

Why now

  • The Hong Kong Convention is in force

    Since 26 June 2025, ships flagged in signatory states must be recycled at authorised facilities, with an Inventory of Hazardous Materials and a Ready for Recycling Certificate.

    Source: IMO

  • EU-flagged ships need EU-listed yards

    The EU Ship Recycling Regulation requires EU-flagged ships to be recycled only at facilities on the European List.

    Source: Regulation (EU) No 1257/2013

  • Carbon costs now fall on older ships

    Shipping entered the EU Emissions Trading System in 2024, rising from 40% of emissions to 100% from 2026. Together with IMO's CII ratings, it makes inefficient older tonnage more expensive to keep trading.

    Source: EU ETS

  • The world fleet is getting older

    More than half of the world fleet is over 15 years old, and a large wave of ships is approaching the end of its working life.

    Source: UNCTAD, Review of Maritime Transport 2023

About us

Arda Avcıoğlu in officer's whites on a ship's bridge wing

Arda AvcıoğluCo-founder & CEO

Former 1st Officer on expedition, polar and superyacht vessels.

Builds ShipScout and leads the deals from Aliağa, Türkiye.

LinkedIn
Mert Subas, Co-founder and CTO of ShipScout

Mert SubasCo-founder & CTO

Full-stack engineer with five years in .NET, React and mobile apps.

Built e-government systems for Albania. Geomatics engineer by training.

LinkedIn

Questions owners ask

How do you earn money, and who pays?

Nothing is paid upfront. When a deal closes, ShipScout earns a 2% success fee from each side: 2% from the shipowner and 2% from the yard. If the deal does not close, nobody pays. Brokers who use our AI Broker pay a membership ($299 a month, with a 14-day free trial) and a 0.5% fee on deals they close with us.

How are you different from online scrap auctions?

Online auction platforms wait for an owner to list a ship. Our AI agents find ships likely to be sold before they reach the market, and we only sell to HKC and EU-listed yards. We also run the deal for you: inspection, contract and escrow until the last voyage.

Which yards and standards do you work with?

Only yards that hold a Hong Kong Convention statement of compliance or are on the European List of ship recycling facilities. We do not sell to beaching yards that meet neither standard.

Do you run sanctions and KYC checks?

Yes. Every vessel on our radar is screened against the OFAC sanctions list, and vessels with a match are removed. Buyers and sellers are checked against sanctions lists before we share a ship or sign a deal.

How is payment secured?

The buyer's payment is held in escrow with our maritime law partner and released only after the ship completes its last voyage to the yard.

What documents are needed?

Usually the vessel's registry and class documents, the Inventory of Hazardous Materials (IHM), and for ships under the Hong Kong Convention a Ready for Recycling Certificate. We prepare the list for your vessel and help where something is missing.

Looking to buy a ship?

Tell us what you need. When our agents find a ship that fits, you hear about it first.

  • Ships before they’re listedOur agents spot owners likely to sell, often before the ship is on the market.
  • One broker, start to finishInspection, contract and documents handled for you.
  • Screened buyers onlyEvery buyer is checked against sanctions lists before we share a ship.

Talk to ShipScout

Send us the IMO number, or just tell us about the vessel, and our team will get back to you.

ShipScoutAliağaİzmirTürkiyeWhatsApp: +90 539 667 59 22info@shipscout.io

Price my ship

Send the IMO number and where the vessel is. Our agents match it with a certified yard, and you get a direct price from the yard.

How do you want to sell?
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