Salvage, << SAL vihj, >> is money or goods paid to those who save ships or cargo abandoned at sea. Help which is given to a vessel in distress or danger is called salvage service. In the United Kingdom, salvage is granted only for acts on the high seas. In the United States, courts allow salvage for saving goods, ships, and life on inland waters as well as on the high seas.
The salvor is a person who helps to save a ship other than the one on which the person sails. Salvors cannot collect salvage for helping to save their own ship. Salvage can be collected only for saving a ship that sails under its own power, or a moving barge. It is not granted in the case of a barge or other floating structure moored to a shore or dock. The danger from which a ship is salvaged must be real, not something which might happen. The ship saved must be brought to a safe place, ready to be returned to its owner for repair.
Some countries have fixed by law the amounts to be paid in salvage cases. The United States and the United Kingdom have no such laws. American and British courts grant salvage claims based on conditions under which the act has been performed. It is usual to pay amounts substantially more than those generally paid to officers and crew members for regular work.
Division of salvage among the salvors also rests on the decision of the courts. The master’s share is usually double that of the mate. The mate’s share is usually double that of a crew member. The share of the crew that does the work and sails the salvaged ship back to port is usually double that of those who remain aboard the salvor vessel. The greatest amount of salvage that was ever recovered from a sunken ship was the 40 million pounds sterling recovered from the British cruiser Edinburgh. This ship was torpedoed by German warships in the Barents Sea in 1942. In 1981, British divers retrieved about 5 short tons (4.5 metric tons) of gold bars from the Edinburgh.
The term salvage is also used to describe goods recovered from emergencies on land. These emergencies include floods or fires.
