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Marine salvage
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Marine salvage is the process of
recovering a ship, its cargo, or other property after a shipwreck or other maritime casualty.
Salvage may encompass towing, re-floating a sunken or grounded vessel, or
patching or repairing a ship. Today, protecting the environment from cargoes
such as oil or other contaminants is often considered a high priority.
"Salvors" are seamen
and engineers who carry out salvage to vessels that they do not own, and who
are not members of the vessel's original crew. When salving large ships, they
may use cranes, floating dry docks and divers to lift and repair submerged or
grounded ships, preparing them to be towed by a tugboat. The goal of the salvage may be to
repair the vessel at a harbour or dry dock, or to clear a channel for
navigation. Salvage operations may also aim to prevent pollution or damage to the marine environment.
Additionally, the vessel or valuable parts of the vessel or its cargo may be recovered
for resale, or for scrap.
Contents
Sir William Phipps used
a diving bell to salvage tremendous wealth from a sunken Spanish treasure ship.
In the Early Modern Period, diving bells were often used for salvage
work. In 1658, Albrecht von Treileben was contracted by
King Gustavus Adolphus of
Sweden to salvage the warship Vasa, which sank in Stockholm harbor on
its maiden voyage in 1628. Between 1663-1665 von Treileben's
divers were successful in raising most of the cannon, working from a diving
bell.[1] In 1687, Sir William Phipps used
an inverted container to recover £200,000-worth of treasure
from a Spanish ship sunk off the coast of San Domingo.
The era of modern salvage
operations was inaugurated with the development of the first surface supplied
diving helmets by the inventors,Charles and John Deane and Augustus Siebe, in the 1830s. The Royal George,
a 100-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, sank undergoing routine
maintenance work in 1782, and the Deane brothers were
commissioned to perform salvage work on the wreck. Using their new air-pumped diving helmets, they managed to recover about
two dozen cannons.
Following on from this success,
Colonel of the Royal Engineers Charles Pasley commenced the first large
scale salvage operation in 1839. His plan was to break up the wreck of Royal
George with gunpowder charges and then salvage as much as possible
using divers.
Pasley's diving salvage operation
set many diving milestones, including the first recorded use of thebuddy system in diving, when he ordered
that his divers operate in pairs. In addition, the first emergency swimming
ascent was made by a diver after his air line became tangled and he had to cut
it free. A less fortunate milestone was the first medical account of a diver squeeze suffered
by a Private Williams: the early diving helmets used had no non-return valves; this meant that if a hose
became severed, the high-pressure air around the diver's head rapidly evacuated
the helmet causing tremendous negative pressure that caused extreme and
sometimes life-threatening effects. At theBritish Association for the Advancement of Science meeting
in 1842, Sir John
Richardson described the diving apparatus and
treatment of diver Roderick Cameron following an injury that occurred on 14 October 1841 during the salvage
operations.[2]
Pasley recovered 12 more guns in 1839, 11 more in 1840, and 6 in 1841. In 1842 he recovered only
one iron 12-pounder because he ordered the divers to
concentrate on removing the hull timbers rather than search for guns. Other
items recovered, in 1840, included the surgeon's brass instruments, silkgarments
of satin weave 'of which the silk was
perfect', and pieces of leather; but no woollen clothing.[3] By 1843 the whole of the
keel and the bottom timbers had been raised and the site was declared clear.[4]
Classification
of salvage
Offshore salvage
The refloating of ships stranded
or sunk in exposed waters is called offshore salvage. In this type of salvage,
vessels are exposed to waves, currents and weather and are the most
vulnerable and difficult to work on. They also tend to deteriorate more rapidly
than such vessels in protected harbors. Offshore salvage may provide only a
short window of opportunity for the salvage team due to unusually high tide or inclement weather for
instance. The work window may not come around again for as long as weeks or
months and in the interim, the vessel will continue to deteriorate. As a
result, it is often imperative to work quickly. Typically, offshore salvage is
conducted from pre-outfitted salvage tugs and other tugboats. In addition, portable diving facilities may be transported
by helicopter or small boat to the work
area. From a tactical point of view, working in unprotected waters is less
hospitable for floating cranes,
construction tenders, dredges and
equipment barges. Plus, it is often difficult to depend
upon a stable workforce (welders, carpenters, etc.) as all personnel must be present
on site for the duration
Harbour salvage
A house boat dinghy being salvaged in an Amsterdam canal
The term harbour salvage refers
to the salvage of vessels stranded or sunk in sheltered waters. Such vessels
are not normally subject to the same deterioration caused by marine and weather
conditions as offshore salvage vessels are. In addition, unless the vessel to
be salvaged is obstructing navigation, then there is no need to work as swiftly
as in offshore salvage. Also, harbour pre-salvage survey and planning stages
tend to be less time consuming and environmentally dependent. It is also easier
to gain access to local labour resources and heavy equipment such as floating
cranes and barges.
Cargo and equipment
salvage
Saving the cargo and equipment
aboard a vessel may be of higher priority than saving the vessel itself. The
cargo may pose an environmental hazard or may include expensive materials such
as machinery or precious metals. In this form of salvage, the main focus is on
the rapid removal of goods and may include deliberate dissection, disassembly
or destruction of the hull.
Wreck removal
Wreck removal focuses on the
removal of hazardous or unsightly wrecks that have little or no salvage
value. Because the objectives here are not to save the vessel, the wrecks are
usually refloated or removed by the cheapest and most practical method
possible. In many cases, hazardous materials must be removed prior
to disposing of the wreck. The most common techniques used in wreck removal are
cutting the hull into easily handled sections or refloating the vessel
and scuttling it in deeper waters.
Afloat salvage
The salvage of a vessel that is
damaged but still afloat is called afloat salvage. This type of salvage is
mostly unobtrusive and involves primarily damage control work such as hull
welding, stabilization (rebalancing ballast tanks and shifting cargo) and
structural bracing. In some cases, the vessel can remain underway with little
disruption to its original purpose and crew.
Clearance salvage
Clearance salvage is the
coordinated removal or salvage of numerous vessels in a harbor or waterway. It
typically follows a catastrophic event such as a tsunami, hurricane or anact of war (e.g. Pearl Harbor).
There may be multiple vessel obstructions with varying degrees of damage due to
collision, fire or explosions.[5]
Tools used in marine salvage
·
Floatation airbag
·
Diving helmet
·
Underwater cutting equipment
·
Hydraulic salvage pump
·
Air compressor
·
Hydraulic winch
Salvage urgency
and cost considerations
Salvage projects may vary with
respect to urgency and cost considerations. When the vessel to be returned to
service is commercial, the salvage operation is typically driven by its
commercial value and impact on navigational waterways. Military vessels on
the other hand are often salvaged at any cost—even to exceed their operational
value—because of national prestige and anti-"abandonment" policies. Another
consideration may be loss of revenue and service or the cost of the space the
vessel occupies.
USS Regulus hard aground in 1971 due to a typhoon:
after three weeks of effort, Naval salvors deemed it unsalvageable.
There are four
types of salvage:
Contract salvage
In contract salvage the owner of
the property and salvor enter into a salvage contract prior to the commencement
of salvage operations and the amount that the salvor is paid is determined by
the contract. This can be a fixed amount, based on a "time and
materials" basis, or any other terms that both parties agree to. The
contract may also state that payment is only due if the salvage operation is
successful (a.k.a. "No Cure, No Pay"),[6] or that payment is due even if
the operation is not successful. By far the commonest single form of salvage
contract internationally is Lloyd's Standard Form of Salvage Agreement (2011),
and English law arbitration agreement administered by the Council of Lloyd's,
London.[7]
Pure salvage
In the USA, in pure salvage (also
called "merit salvage"), there is no contract between the owner of
the goods and the salvor. The relationship is one which is implied by law. The
salvor of property under pure salvage must bring his claim for salvage in a
court which has jurisdiction, and this will award salvagebased upon the "merit" of the service and
the value of the salvaged property.[citation needed]
Pure salvage claims are divided
into "high-order" and "low-order" salvage. In high-order
salvage, the salvor exposes himself and his crew to the risk of injury and loss
or damage to his equipment in order to salvage the property that is in peril.
Examples of high-order salvage are boarding a sinking ship in heavy weather,
boarding a ship which is on fire, raising a ship, plane, or other sunken
property, or towing a ship which is in the surf away from the shore.
Low-order salvage occurs where
the salvor is exposed to little or no personal risk. Examples of low-order
salvage include towing another vessel in calm seas, supplying a vessel with
fuel, or pulling a vessel off a sand bar. Salvors performing high order salvage
receive substantially greater salvage award than those performing low order
salvage.[citation needed]
In order for a claim to be
awarded three requirements must be met: The property must be in peril, the
services must be rendered voluntarily (no duty to act), and finally the salvage
must be successful in whole or in part.
There are several factors that
would be considered by a court in establishing the amount of the salvor’s
award. Some of these include the difficulty of the operation, the risk involved
to the salvor, the value of the property saved, the degree of danger to which
the property was exposed, and the potential environmental impacts. It would be
a rare case in which the salvage award would be greater than 50 percent of the
value of the property salvaged. More commonly, salvage awards amount to 10
percent to 25 percent of the value of the property.[citation needed]
Private boat owners, to protect
themselves from salvage laws in the event of a rescue, would be wise to clarify
with their rescuer if the operation is to be considered salvage, or simply
assistance towing. If this is not done, the boat owner may be shocked to
discover that the rescuer may be eligible for a substantial salvage award, and
a lien may be placed on the vessel if it is not paid.
Naval salvage
The USNS Grapple, an example of a modern naval
rescue salvage ship
Several navies have Rescue
Salvage vessels which are to support their fleet and to come to the aid of
vessels in distress. In addition they may have Deep Salvage Units.[citation needed] A
DSU (salvage) is an attached unit to the US Navy Submarine Rescue Unit.[citation needed]Technical
diving marine salvage units which can operate in depths unworkable by civilian
divers, and which requires saturation diving or trimix (breathing gas) diving
techniques. This type of Unit is at times formed by a commercial diving company
contracting to government via the Baltic Exchange.
Plunder
When certain vessels are lost in
an unknown area, a potential salvor might discover and plunder the wreck
without knowledge of the wreck's owner. Salvaging a foreign navy's vessel is
against international law.[8]
Intelligence salvage
Salvage law has as a basis that a
salvor should be rewarded for risking his life and property to rescue the
property of another from peril. Salvage law is in some ways similar to the
wartime law of prize, the capture,
condemnation and sale of a vessel and its cargo as a spoil of war, insofar as
both compensate the salvor/captors for risking life and property.[9] The two areas of law may
dovetail. For instance, a vessel taken as a prize, then recaptured by friendly
forces on its way to the prize adjudication, is not deemed a prize of the
rescuers (title merely reverts to the original owner). But the rescuing vessel
is entitled to a claim for salvage.[10] Likewise a vessel found badly
damaged, abandoned and adrift after enemy fire disabled her does not become a
prize of a rescuing friendly vessel, but the rescuers may claim salvage.[11]
A vessel is considered in peril
if it is in danger or could become in danger. Examples of a vessel in peril are
when it is aground or in danger of going aground. Prior to a salvage attempt
the salvor receives permission from the owner or the master to assist the
vessel. If the vessel is abandoned no permission is needed.[citation needed]
The amount of the award depends
on, in part, the value of the salved vessel, the degree of risk involved and
the degree of peril the vessel was in. Legal disputes do arise from the
claiming of salvage rights. To reduce the amount of a claim after an accident,
boat owners or skippers often remain on board and in command of the vessel;
they do everything possible to minimise further loss and seek to minimize the
degree of risk the vessel is in. If another vessel offers a tow and the master
or owner negotiates an hourly rate before accepting then salvage does not
apply.
Some maritime rescue
organisations, such as Britain's Royal
National Lifeboat Institution, do not insist the crews of
their lifeboats renounce
their right to claim compensation for salvage.[citation needed],
but should they choose to make a claim, they must pay for the use of the
lifeboat and make good any damage suffered by her. Claims for salvage by
lifeboat crews are rare. Jetsam are goods that
were thrown off a ship, which was in danger, to save the ship. Flotsam are goods that floated off the
ship while it was in danger or when it sank. Ligan or lagan are goods left in
the sea on the wreck or tied to a buoy so
that they can be recovered later by the owners. Derelict is abandoned vessels or cargo.
In the United Kingdom under the Merchant
Shipping Act 1995, jetsam, flotsam, lagan and all other cargo and
wreckage remain the property of their original owners. Anyone, including
recreational divers and beachcombers, removing those goods must inform
the Receiver of Wreck to
avoid the accusation of theft. As the leisure activity of wreck divingis common, there are laws to protect
historic wrecks of archaeological importance and the Protection
of Military Remains Act 1986 protects ships and aircraft
that are the last resting place of the remains of members of the armed forces.
Notable salvage
operations
·
The largest marine salvage operation on record was
the raising of the German High Seas Fleet which was scuttled
at Scapa Flow in 1919. Between 1922 and 1939, 45 of the 52 warships sunk,
including six battleships, five battlecruisers, five cruisers and 32 destroyers were
raised from the bottom of the flow at depths of up to 45 metres, primarily
by Cox & Danks Ltd & Metal
Industries Ltd, and broken up for scrap.
·
The raising and subsequent conservation of
the Mary Rose, the flagship of the navy
of King Henry VIII,
which sank in 1545 in theSolent, North of the Isle of Wight. As with the Vasa,
the salvage of the Mary Rose in 1982 was an operation of
immense complexity and was a major achievement in marine archaeology. The
remains of the ship, together with recovered weapons, sailing equipment and
crew’s personal effects are now on display at Portsmouth
Historic Dockyard and the nearby Mary Rose Museum.
·
In 1943-44 a famous Great Lakes salvage
engineer, Capt. John Roen, did what was considered financially impossible and
salvaged the S.S. Humphrey which sank in a collision in 77 feet (23 m) deep water
in the Mackinaw Straits, by first removing the ore it was carrying and then
using two vessels on each side of the underwater wreck, with cables that
"walked" the Humphrey in stages under water (reducing the weight
drastically) to shallower water where it was then pumped out and re-floated and
towed out. Some of the techniques developed by Roen for the Humphrey salvage
established methods which became new standards for future salvages, where
before many wrecks were considered too heavy and large to salvage.[14]
·
In 1968 Shipwrecks Inc., headed by E. Lee Spence, was granted South Carolina
State Salvage License #1 to salvage the wreck of the Civil War blockade
runner SSGeorgiana under
that state's new underwater antiquities act, which had been drafted and passed
at the instigation of Spence, who had discovered the wreck in 1965. Spence's
work on the wreck was some of the very first underwater archaeology done in the
United States.[15][16] Spence and his crew raised
over 1,000,000 individual artifacts,
conservatively valued at over $12,000,000. The artifacts fell into three
basic groups: medicines, munitions and merchandise. They ranged from tiny brass
sewing pins and glass buttons to heavy iron cannons and included such things
cannon balls; bullets; bottles; pottery; carved bone toothbrushes; pencils;
match cases; and Wedgwood china.[17]
·
In 1974 the U.S. CIA attempted to
recover the sunken Soviet Golf class submarine K-129 in the secret
and expensive intelligence operation Project Azorian. The attempt was only
partially successful.
·
Vrouw Maria was
discovered in 1999, and after a protracted legal battle, plans for
salvage are still in the discussion and planning stage.[citation needed] It
is known to contain priceless works of art.
·
The USS Cole was severely damaged
in October 2000 by terrorists while it was harboured in the Yemeni
port of Aden. It was rescued, salvaged, and repaired to serve again.
·
In July 2006, the Japanese car carrier
the Cougar Ace, packed with 4,700 Mazda cars and
Isuzu trucks bound for the North-American market was traveling from Japan toVancouver,
British Columbia, when it stranded in the Pacific Ocean. The ship’s
condition quickly began to deteriorate as it took on water. The salvage team
involved had to work solidly for 24 days straight to try and save
the vessel and its extremely lucrative cargo.[20]
·
In May 2007, Odyssey Marine
Exploration undertook the Black Swan Project and
recovered an estimated $500 million USD in silver and gold coins from
a ship wreck in theAtlantic Ocean.[21] However, the wreck and its
contents were claimed by the Spanish government.[22] A legal dispute through United
States Federal Courts was resolved in February 2012, when it was
reported that U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Pizzo had ordered Odyssey to return
the coins to Spain by February 24, 2012 for dispersal to museums, not to
heirs. The Supreme
Court declined to stay this order and Odyssey has agreed to
abide by the decision.[23]
3.
Jump up^ The Times, London, article
CS117993292 dated 12 Oct 1840, retrieved 30 Apr 2004.
4.
Jump up^ Percy, Sholto (1843). Iron:
An Illustrated Weekly Journal for Iron and Steel Manufacturers 39. Knight and Lacey.
5.
Jump up^ Bartholomew, Charles, et
al."U.S. Navy Salvage Engineer's Handbook". Naval Sea Systems
Command, 2008
9.
Jump up^ Grotius, De Iure
Praedae Commentarius (On the Law of Prize and Booty)(Oxford: Oxford
University Press 1950) p. 164(stating the purpose of Italian prize law is to
compensate for the expense incurred, risk taken, and labor performed).
10.
Jump up^ Upton, Maritime Warfare
and Prize (New York: John Voorhies Law Bookseller and Publisher, 1863)
p. 234-35 (discussing doctrine of postliminium and salvage of recaptured
vessels).
11.
Jump up^ The Mary Ford,
reprinted in James Scott Brown (ed.), Prize Cases Decided in the United
States Supreme Court (Oxford: Clarendon Press 1923) p. 130(seminal
1796 decision on the law of salvage that American rescuers who found a wrecked
and abandoned French vessel adrift without sails or rigging could not condemn
her as a prize, but were entitled as salvors to the judge's estimate of fair
compensation based on time lost, labor, risk taken, and mental and physical
suffering--to induce mariners to undertake the peril and expense of rescue at
sea).
12.
Jump up^ Madsen,
Daniel"Resurrection: Salvaging the Battle Fleet at Pearl Harbor".
Naval Institute Press, 2003
13.
Jump up^ Morison, Samuel Eliot,
"The Two Ocean War", Little, Brown and Company,1963
15.
Jump up^ “Underwater Archeology on
the Georgiana,” (“Salvage of the Georgiana”), by E. Lee Spence, presented
before the International Conference on Underwater Archeology, (Charleston, SC,
1974)
16.
Jump up^ “Underwater Archeology in
South Carolina,” by E. Lee Spence, The Conference on Historic Site
Archeology Papers 1970, (1971), Volume 5, Part 1
·
Milwee, William (1996), Modern Marine
Salvage, Cornell Maritime Press.
·
Tew, Ian (2007), Salvage, A personal
odyssey, Seafarer Books, Sheridan House.
·
Salvage Code Red A new documentary for
National Geographic Channel looking at the world of marine salvage
·
WRECKSITE Worldwide free database of +
65.000 wrecks with history, maritime charts and GPS positions
·
This page was last modified on 22 January 2015, at
06:06.
Penulis : Drs.Simon Arnold Julian Jacob
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