Weeks after canceling the 2019 season of Just Ducky Tours, the owners of Pittsburgh’s longtime amphibious boat business have moved to auction off their assets one by one after no one expressed interest in taking over the business.
The Station Square-based operation enjoyed 22 years of steady business in Pittsburgh and maintained a clean safety record. But a July 2018 accident on Missouri’s Table Rock Lake, in which 17 duck boat passengers died when their vessel capsized in a thunderstorm, prompted Just Ducky Tours’ insurer to raise its premiums to an unsustainable level.
Co-founders Michael Cohen and Chris D’Addario, who declined to comment for this story, retained Pittsburgh-based Harry Davis & Co. several weeks ago to sell the entire business, including its fleet of eight amphibious boats. No one leaped at the chance, however, to become part of a now-troubled industry.
“We knew that was kind of a long shot,” said Stanford Davis, CEO of Harry Davis & Co. “To have someone operate a business is much more involved than buying the individual pieces.”
Instead, the auction company will hold an online auction from Sept. 23-25 on all of Just Ducky Tours’ remaining assets — not just the boats, but also a vintage trolley and dozens of other pieces of machinery stored in a North Side warehouse.
Staff at the auction house say they’ve already gotten dozens of inquiries, mostly from well outside Pittsburgh, including as far away as the Dominican Republic.
And how, exactly, would one put a duck boat to use? Mr. Davis theorized that the vessels could serve as work vehicles for waterside construction projects. The company has also fielded inquiries from development groups in other U.S. cities that are considering starting duck boat businesses in their downtowns.
As for the cost of a duck boat, Mr. Davis said estimates range between $25,000 and $100,000 — but that will be up to the bidders. And Mr. Davis is hesitant to speculate. After all, a duck boat auction is uncharted territory for the company, which has auctioned everything from steel products to food and dairy machinery since its 1955 inception.
“This is very unique, even for us,” Mr. Davis said.
Interested bidders can view a gallery of each individual listing on the auction house website, and can contact the company to tour the assets in person at the North Side warehouse.
Nick Garber: ngarber@post-gazette.com.
First Published: August 15, 2019, 7:20 p.m.
