As part of our commercial services expansion, VTS Marine is excited to highlight a capability that a lot of operators have been asking us about: full commercial vessel haul-out, bottom paint, and sandblasting service at our facility near the Surrey port, built around a 200-foot by 40-foot floating dock.
What makes this dock useful for commercial operators is its flexibility. It’s built to handle both dry haul-out work and in-water dockside service, so depending on what your vessel needs, we can pull it out of the water for bottom paint, hull sandblasting, and running gear inspection, or handle lighter maintenance and repair work right at the dock without a haul-out at all. That flexibility matters most when something breaks unexpectedly — our dock is sized and equipped to support fast turnaround for emergency haul-outs, so a tug, barge, or workboat that needs to get back in service doesn’t sit in a queue waiting for capacity.
Bottom paint and antifouling work is one of the most common reasons commercial vessels come to us. Marine growth on a hull doesn’t just look bad, it increases drag, burns more fuel, and accelerates corrosion on running gear — all things that cost a commercial operator money every day the vessel is in the water with a fouled hull. Our team handles full surface preparation, hull inspection, and application of commercial-grade antifouling coatings suited to the vessel’s operating environment, whether that’s the brackish water of the Fraser River or open harbour conditions.
Sandblasting is often the step that determines how long a paint job actually lasts. Old coatings, rust, and marine growth need to come off down to a clean, properly profiled surface before new paint goes on, and rushing that step is how bottom jobs fail early. Our facility is set up to handle hull sandblasting as part of a full haul-out package, so vessels leave with a properly prepped and coated hull rather than paint applied over old problems.
Because the dock near Surrey supports both haul-out and dockside work, we’re able to offer commercial operators a level of scheduling flexibility that’s hard to find in the Vancouver area, especially when a breakdown can’t wait. If you operate a tug, barge, or other commercial vessel and need haul-out, bottom paint, or sandblasting service, get in touch with our team to check availability.
