A method of salvaging a pipeline in a marine environment is disclosed. The method provides a frame having a perimeter that surrounds a pair of opposed cutting blades, the frame having a gate that enables the frame to be selectively placed around or removed from a section of pipeline to be cut. As part of the method, the frame is placed on a pipeline by first opening the gate and then closing the gate once the pipeline is in an opening that is at the center of the frame. The center opening is generally rectangular in shape once the gate is closed. The cutter blades are moved toward one another, preferably with one blade being the moving blade and the other being a fixed blade. The cutter blades move toward one another until they overlap. At the time that they overlap, the cutter blades are prevented from deflecting in a direction normal to the direction of travel by a pair of guide rails that trap the moving blade in between the fixed blade and the guide rails. The pipeline to be cut is automatically centered within respective v-notched shaped blades prior to being severed as the blades advance relative to one another.