It is a little known fact that in many circumstances where a boat or ship has been abandoned at sea, if someone is able to salvage it, they can obtain rights to a reward under an international convention which has been signed and ratified by many member states. Under the International Convention on Salvage, 1989 (London, 28 April 1989), there are a number of rights for the salvors of ships. The convention recognizes the value of providing incentives for salvage operations to occur. Article 12 outlines the conditions for the reward of salvage. The primary condition is that the salvage operation has a ‘useful result’. Article 13 of the Convention then goes on to the criteria for fixing the reward for salvage and the considerations which are used are the value of the vessel, the skill required for the salvage operation, the degree of success of the operation, the time used and expense incurred by the salvor and the risks that they have borne in the process. There is also a mechanism in the convention under article 14 for salvage which has the particular impact of preventing significant damage to the environment.

There are also other rights and responsibilities which accrue to persons engaged in the business of salvaging ships. There is a duty under the convention to accept the assistance of other salvage operations and to render assistance where capable as long as the provision of this assistance does not endanger the life of the salvor’s crew or the salvor’s ship. Because of the enormous rewards involved, salvaging a ship with its cargo has the potential to be very profitable business enterprise and there are salvaging businesses who livelihood is based around the bounty from the salvage of ships. If you have a question about the legality of a salvage, please do not hesitate to contact us about you shipping law query.