dered in tran advice as to be awarded in a case where cargo has been transhipped if the Services rencargo was really in danger; but claims for salvage remunera- shipping or tion made under such circumstances have always been watched landing cargo. with jealousy by the Court of Admiralty (1). A person who merely hires men to assist in landing the cargo of a vessel that is stranded cannot claim as a salvor, although he is entitled to a fair remuneration for his trouble (m). Where a cutter By giving approached as nearly as could be done with safety to a ship in distress which had signalled for help, and gave advice to her which led to her safety, it was considered in the Court of Admiralty that this constituted salvage service (»). Where the crew of a vessel are so reduced by death or By putting sickness as to be insufficient for her navigation, the owners, master and crew of another vessel, which, on the high seas, supplies men from her own crew, are entitled to salvage (0). nally intended, as by the breaking of the ship's hawser. But if in the discharge of this task, by sudden violence of wind or waves, or other accidents, the ship in tow is placed in danger, and the towing vessel incurs risks and perform duties which were not within the scope of her original engagement, she is entitled to additional remuneration for additional services if the ship be saved, and may claim as a salvor, instead of being restricted to the sum stipulated to be paid for mere towage. Whether this larger remuneration is to be considered as an addition to, or in substitution for, the price of towage, is of little consequence practically. The measure of the sum to be allowed as salvage would, of course, be increased or diminished according as the price of the towage was or was not included in it. In the cases on this subject, the towage contract is generally spoken of as superseded by the right to salvage. It is not disputed, that these are the rules which are acted upon in the Court of Admiralty, and they appear to their Lordships to be founded in reason and in public policy, and to be not inconsistent with legal principles. To hold, on the one hand, that a tug, having contracted to tow, is bound, whatever happens after the contract, though not in the contemplation of the parties, and at all hazards to herself, to take the ship to her destination; or on the other, that the moment the performance of the contract is interrupted, or its completion in the mode originally (1) The Hope, 3 Hagg. 423; The (m) The Watt, 2 W. Rob. 70. See also The Lively, 3 W. Rob. 64, in which a claim for salvage under similar circumstances by an agent of Lloyd's was dismissed. (n) The Eliza, Lush. 536. The mere giving of information is not, under ordinary circumstances, a salvage service. The Little Joe, Lush. 88. (0) The Roe, Swa. 84; The Charles, L. R., 3 A. & E. 536; The Active, 14 Jurist, 606; The Skibladner, 3 P. D. 24. locality. men on board. In other instances. Must be beneficial. Where a vessel lying in dock was in danger of catching fire from the surrounding warehouses which were in flames, and was towed out into a place of safety by a steamer, it was held that salvage was payable (p). Services which are performed on land in connection with assistance rendered at sea may be included in a claim for salvage (2). So also may the setting of salvors in motion (»). Where a suit for salvage was brought by a person who had taken charge of a stranded vessel under an agreement with the master, and had saved a valuable cargo, the Court allotted to him a reasonable remuneration; although it said that the services rendered were rather in the character of a meritorious agency than of a salvage service (s). But charges for repairs done to the salved ship cannot be included in a salvage claim (†). If the services of the alleged salvors are not attended with, or followed by, benefit to the owners of the ship, or goods, or to the lives of persons belonging to the ship, no salvage can be claimed; for salvage reward is a compensation for benefit actually conferred in the preservation of property, not for meritorious exertions alone (u). Where a boat's crew, after labouring for a whole day at a vessel which was ashore, abandoned her, without any intention of returning, leaving their service incomplete, and she was afterwards got off by others, it was held that those who first gave assistance were not entitled to salvage, although some of them tendered their services to the real salvors before the vessel was got off (x). Where, however, salvage service is finally effected, those who meritoriously contribute to that result are entitled to share in the reward, although the part they took, standing by itself, would not in fact have produced it (y). In such a case, not only the men who (4) See the judgment in The Mary (r) The Nile, ubi supra; The Sarah, 3 P. D. 39. (8) The Favorite, 2 W. Rob. 255. The Court has, under special circumstances, allowed a claim as agent and salvor to be united. The Purisima Concepcion, 3 W. Rob. 181; The Cargo ex Honor, L. R., 1 A. & E. 87. (t) The Rainger, 2 Hagg. 42. (u) See The India, 1 W. Rob. 406; the judgment in The Zephyrus, ib. 330; The Undaunted, Lush. 92; and The Edward Hawkins, Lush. 515; The Cheetah, L. R., 2 P. C. 205. (x) The India, ubi supra. (y) The Jonge Bastiaan, 5 Rob. 322; The Atlas, Lush. 518; The Santipore, 1 Spks. 231; The E. U., ib. 63; The Melpomene, L. R., 4 A. & E. 129. Salvors working under an engagement, that is to say, not mere volunteers, or going off from shore in answer to signals of distress, but men engaged by a ship in distress to assist her, may The general rule above mentioned is, however, now subject to Compensation the statutory provisions contained in sects. 18 to 21 of the Mer- where imchant Shipping Act, 1873. proper use of statutory signals of Of these sections sect. 18 provides that the signals specified distress. in the first schedule to the act shall be deemed to be signals of distress, and that any master of a vessel who uses or displays, or causes or permits any person under his authority to use or display, any of the said signals, except in the case of a vessel being in distress, shall be liable to pay compensation for any labour undertaken, risk incurred, or loss sustained in consequence of such signal having been supposed to be a signal of distress, and that such compensation may, without prejudice to any other remedy, be recovered in the same manner in which salvage is recoverable (2). alter rules as The 20th section of the same act provides that her Majesty Power to may from time to time by order in Council repeal or alter the to signals. rules as to the signals contained in the schedules to the act, or make new rules in addition thereto, or in substitution therefor, and that any alterations in or additions to such rules so made shall be of the same force as the rules in the said schedules. The 21st section allows any shipowner who is desirous of Private night signals. using, for the purposes of a private code, any rockets, lights, or other similar signals, to register such signals with the Board of Trade, and provides that the Board shall give public notice of the signals so registered in such manner as they may think requisite for preventing such signals from being mistaken for signals of distress or signals for pilots. The same section further provides that the Board may refuse to register any signals which in their opinion cannot easily be distinguished from signals of distress or signals for pilots; and that when any signal has been so registered the use or display thereof by any person acting under the authority of the shipowner in whose name it is registered shall not subject any person to any of the penalties or liabilities imposed by the act upon persons using or displaying signals improperly (a). be entitled to salvage reward, although their efforts are unsuccessful; if the ship is otherwise saved. The Undaunted, Lush. 90; The Melpomene, L. R., 3 A. & E. 129. (z) See the M. S. Act, 1873, sched. I. The signals are, in the daytime, a gun fired at intervals of about a minute; the international code signal indicated by N. C.; or a distant signal consist M.P. ing of a square flag hoisted, with a (a) A list of the signals registered TT Cases of recapture. Preservation When a ship or cargo belonging to a British owner is captured by an enemy, and retaken either by a Queen's ship or by a private vessel, the owner is entitled by statute, upon proof of his title, to a restoration of the property subject to payment of salvage (b). It is the practice of the Prize Court of this country to extend the benefit of this rule to allies whose property has been recaptured by an English vessel, unless it appears that they belong to a state which deals with British property upon a less liberal principle; in which case the rule of reciprocity is applied (c). The preservation of human life has always been considered to of human life. be an important ingredient in estimating the amount to be paid to salvors where property had also been saved (d); but where no property was saved, but human life alone was preserved, the Court of Admiralty had, apart from statute, no power of remunerating the salvors, however meritorious their conduct might have been (e). The 1 & 2 Geo. 4, c. 75, empowered justices of the peace to decide on salvage claims for services rendered to ships or goods," or for being instrumental in saving the life or lives of any person or persons on board," and gave an appeal to the Court of Admiralty to parties dissatisfied (ƒ). It was held that this statute conferred no original jurisdiction on the Court of Admiralty to award salvage in cases where life alone had been preserved (g). This act was repealed by the 9 & 10 Vict. c. 99, which provided that every person (except receivers of Admiralty droits under the act) who should act or be employed in the (b) See the 13 Geo. 2, c. 4, s. 18; the 17 Geo. 2, c. 34, s. 20; the 29 Geo. 2, c. 34, s. 24; the 45 Geo. 3, c. 72, s. 7; and the 55 Geo. 3, c. 60, s. 5. The last of these acts expired with the French war. The act now in force is the Naval Prize Act, 1864 (27 & 28 Vict. c. 25). Appendix, p. ccxlix. It is permanent, and by sect. 40 (Appendix, p. ccliv) entitles a person retaking a vessel to one-eighth part of its value, or such lesser sum as may be agreed upon and approved of by a Prize Court. When, however, the recapture is made under circumstances of special difficulty, the Prize Court may award to the recaptors an amount more than one-eighth of the value of the prize, but not exceeding onefourth. Before these statutes, if a ship of this country was captured, taken infra præsidia, and there condemned, the property in her was entirely divested out of the owner, and he acquired no new right to her upon recapture. See the judgment of Sir W. Scott in L'Actif, Edw. 186. As to the salvage payable on rescue from the enemy, see The Two Friends, 1 Rob. 279. (c) The Santa Cruz, 1 Rob. 50. As to salvage in cases where property has been recovered from pirates, see 22 & 23 Car. 2, c. 11; 11 Will. 3, c. 7, s. 11; and 13 & 14 Vict. c. 26; and The Mariana, 3 Hagg. 201. (d) The Aid, 1 Hagg. 83; The Ardincaple, 3 Hagg. 151. (e) Ibid.; see also the judgment in The Zephyrus, 1 W. Rob. 331, and The Johannes, Lush. 182; The Willem III., L. R., 3 A. & E. 487. See also the judgment of Dr. Lushington in The Fusilier, Br. & L. 344. (f) 1 & 2 Geo. 4, c. 75, ss. 8 and 9. (g) The Zephyrus, 1 W. Rob. 329. saving or preserving of any ship in distress, or of any part of the cargo, or "of the life of any person on board the same," should be paid a reasonable salvage (h). The terms of this statute were wider than those of the earlier act, but it contained no distinct provision as to the persons who were to pay salvage in case life alone was preserved, or as to the principle upon which the amount was to be estimated. The Court of Admiralty, therefore, notwithstanding this statute, continued to act in accordance with the decision upon the earlier act. the Merchant Shipping Acts and the By recent acts of Parliament, however, this defective state of Provisions of the law has been remedied, and the cases in which, and the persons by whom, salvage is to be paid have been clearly defined, as well as the principles upon which it should be estimated. The provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1854, with reference to salvage, are contained in Part VIII. of that act. It is provided, by sect. 458 of that act, that whenever a ship or boat is stranded, or otherwise in distress, on the shore of any sea, or tidal water, situated within the limits of the United Kingdom, and services are rendered by any person, (1.) In assisting the ship or boat; (2.) In saving the lives of the persons belonging to the ship or boat (i); (3.) In saving the cargo or apparel, or any portion of it; And whenever any wreck (j) is saved by any person other than a receiver within the United (h) 9 & 10 Vict. c. 99, s. 19. See also s. 21. This statute was repealed by the 17 & 18 Vict. c. 120. (i) See the observations on this provision by Dr. Lushington in The Bartley, Swa. 199, and in The Coromandel, ib. 207. See also the judgment of Sir Robert Phillimore in The Cairo, L. R., 4 A. & E. 184. Priority is given to claims in respect of life salvage. See the M. S. Act, 1854, s. 459, and The Coromandel, ubi supra. Passengers are included in these sections. See The Fusilier, 34 L. J., P. M. & A. 25; S. C., Br. & L. 341; The Cargo ex Schiller, 1 P. D. 473; 2 P. D. 145. See also The Cairo, L. R., 4 A. & E. 184. (j) By the interpretation clause of the act (s. 2), the term "wreck" includes "jetsam, flotsam, lagan, and derelict, found in or on the shores of the sea or any tidal water." See further as to the meaning of "wreck," Kingdom; Com. Dig. tit. Wreck; Sir Henry Con- Admiralty 1861, with respect to life salvage. |