The comment above on cost of boat charter lead me to think about who is actually responsible for recovering the aircraft.
The operator, the insurance company or the AAIB.
Normally once an aircraft has had an accident it becomes the property of the insurance company I base this on having recovered a couple for insurance companies.
If the beast is going to be scrap does an insurance company want to spend a couple of days boat charter £100,000?
Just curious as to the process.