SAMARITANS AT SEA
A TIME-HONOURED RIGHT
The international Law of the Sea imposes a duty on all vessels to render assistance to any person found at sea in danger of being lost. While there is no comparable obligation to try to salve a vessel in distress, it has been a fundamental principle of maritime law for over 3000 years to reward a volunteer who successfully rescues another person’s ship or cargo. The traditional concept of salvage involved the rescue of property from wrecked ships, including flotsam, jetsam and lagan. Alongside the development of a commercial salvage industry during the 20th century, the modern law of salvage has undergone significant refinement and is now enshrined in the International Convention on Salvage (1989).
INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON SALVAGE (1989)
The Salvage Convention came into force on 14 July 1996, and has been ratified by 69 states, including Australia, where most of its articles are given effect through the (Cth) Navigation Act, 2012 and Navigation Regulations, 2013.
In Australia, the Convention applies to a ‘salvage operation’, which
