Salvage

Salvage, in maritime law, recovery of sunken or stranded vessels or their cargoes abandoned to destruction. The term is also applied to the award, usually by a court of admiralty, to which voluntary salvors become entitled. Salvage may extend to rafts of logs washed out to sea, to derelict navigation beacons, to aircraft abandoned in navigable waters, to property such as money found on floating bodies, and to the recapture of ships taken by piracy or as prizes of war. A manned ship, although occupied by the captain alone, may refuse offers of salvage, but a derelict is available to the first salvor. Those who may claim salvage include crew members who voluntarily return to a merchant ship after the master orders abandonment, as well as governments, which have the same rights as corporations and individuals. Crews on naval vessels become salvors only by government permission. Ships that damage each other cannot claim salvage for aid furnished thereafter. The salvor has a maritime lien on the property saved, but this claim may be reduced or forfeited if the salvor causes unnecessary damage. Although an owner may reclaim property on paying salvage, he or she may elect to abandon it, allow the court to sell it, and recoup any amount remaining after the payment of salvage. The rules under which courts award salvage are complex, involving the value of ship and cargo, the value of the property saved, and the risks and expenses incurred by the salvor. The obligation of all seafarers toward saving lives cannot be rewarded, but lifesaving in conjunction with salvage of property may augment the amount of the award.