T&T: abandoned & salvage

[Douglas Gould]

Rich wrote: 
>In the present case, the owner was apparently the missing skipper's 
>daughter, since the account I saw said he'd signed it over to her. If you 
>follow the thread from my earlier experience, if the vessel is in no 
>immediate danger of loss, and the OWNER does not officially abandon it, 
>nobody has any right to tow it, board it, or in any way molest the vessel 
>without permission from the owner. I imagine a maritime lawyer worth his 
>salt (pun intended) can quickly dispatch the case of the fisher persons. 
>Too bad the owner will have the aggravation and expense of the lawyer. 


The glitch here is "immediate danger", which is NOT a prerequisite for a sucessfull salvage. 
One quote from the US Supreme Court about peril is "either immediate or that which could be 
reasonably apprehended"....which could mean 'eventually'. Nor does there need to be a potential
complete loss; damage that could reasonably be the result of inaction is enough to warrant a salvage 
claim.

When a vessel could be construed to be in, or soon to be in, peril of damage or loss, and no 
one is on board, the courts will almost always deem that the vessel is actually asking for help.
And, that any prudent owner would have accepted such help had they had complete understanding of 
the situation. Salvage law allows for the hypothetical hindsight: imagine that the fishermen in this case actually 
called the real owner, described the situation, and offered to help in return for some money. Most
owners would probably say YES.

What I read on this listserve was that the vessel was anchored many miles from shore, so even though 
the vessel was anchored, she was still at the mercy of the elements; not a particularly prudent way to 
leave a vessel for any period of time. I think it is reasonable to conclude that the operator was gone. 

A salvage contract with a unattended vessel is considered "in rem", which means that the vessel actually 
made the contract. (one of the few instances in law that an inanimate object is considered a party to a legally
binding contract). In such a case, no permission from any owner is needed to sign the deal.

How much of an "award" is granted to the salvor is for the courts to decide. Historically, courts have been
very generous, as an incentive to others that boats and ships continue to be saved, rather than left to flounder and 
litter our shores.