Salvage 101
Debunking the myths between salvage and towing



By Louisa Rudeen

For most of us, the word "salvage," evokes images of sunken treasure brought up from the bottom of the sea, like the gold and jewels Mel Fisher discovered in the wreck of the Spanish galleon Atocha off the coast of Florida. To some boat owners, however, salvage is a dirty word that's synonymous with piracy. "People have a misconception about salvage. They hear horror stories," says John McLaughlin, Vice President of Sea Tow Atlantic City in New Jersey.

While the myths are pervasive,in reality, marine salvage is a necessary practice that's carried out by licensed captains and is regulated by maritime law. This "law of the sea" has its roots back when the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Phoenicians sailed the "wine-dark" waters of the Mediterranean. The island of Rhodes, which hit the height of its naval powers around the 1st century B.C., established one of the earliest known codes to resolve disputes among seafarers. British admiralty law, which goverened the high seas starting in the 15th century, evolved from this code and other old maritime traditions. In the 17th century, the British established admiralty law courts in the American colonies' major seaports. Not long after the U.S. Constitution was ratified. Congress' Judiciary Act of 1789 placed admiralty law in America under the jurisdiction of the federal courts, where it remains today.

If human lives are in danger at sea, under admiralty law, any mariner at the scene must perform lifesaving services free of charge. But when it comes to a boat in danger, salvage rewards are permitted and even encouraged, because they give other mariners an incentive to rescue the boat and its cargo, saving the owner and his insurance agency from a total loss. In 1983, when the U.S. Coast Guard stopped responding to non-emergency calls from recreational boaters, professional towing companies like Sea Tow began to take on more salvage work.

"People get confused between salvage and towing," McLaughlin says. First, before a situation can be considered salvage, the boat in question must be "in peril". For example, when a boat is soft aground and can be pulled off the bottom by a towboat captain, it's considered a standard "ungrounding" tow. On the other hand, a boat that's on fire, is sinking or is leaking something hazardous to the environment such as diesel fuel is also subject to salvage. So is a boat that's wrecked or in danger of wrecking on a reef or jetty.

"We received a call that a sailboat was floating out Absecon Inlet and it looked like nobody was aboard," McLaughlin says. "It was getting near the Atlantic City T-jetty." His son, Eric, responded to the call. Eric pulled up to the sailboat in his tow boat and jumped aboard with a line, securing the drifting boat just before it hit. "He could have stepped on the jetty, he was that close," McLaughlin says. Saving that sailboat from being wrecked and risking life and limb in the process was an example of salvage.

While many salvage situations are cut and dried, there are others that depend on the conditions. A towboat captain coming to the aid of a boat that's dead in the water offshore on a sunny day in flat calm seas is a very different situation from a captain responding to the same call at night, in gale-force winds and 10 foot seas.

A lot of salvage cases begin with, "It was a dark and stormy night," according to Chris Willis, owner of Sea Tow Wrightsville Beach in North Carolina. He recalls hearing a radioed distress call at 8 o'clock one night from the owner of a 27-foot center console fishing boat that was sinking 23 miles offshore. Willis threw on his Mustang survival suit and drove out to the fishing boat, which he found with water up to the gunwales. A Coast Guard boat that was also on the scene rescued the crew of three, then radioed Willis asking him to save the fishing boat. He took it in tow, hoping that slow forward motion would help drain the water through its scuppers. "It took me two hours to get in," he says. He finally go the boat safely to the dock, only to discover its bilge pump switches in the "off" position.

The reward, or fee, that a towboat captain can charge under maritime law for salvaging a boat is another source of misapprehension and occasionally even anger for some recreational boat owners. Part of the problem is that in many cases, events are happening too fast for the towboat captain and the boat owner to agree on a fee in advance. "If the guy's out on the ocean, you don't have time to explain," Willis says.

Later, when he presents his bill, "They think $10,000 for 10 minutes' work is ridiculous. But they don't understand what it takes to be ready, to have your captains trained and the equipment maintained," he says. For Willis and other professional captains like him, a salvage job doesn't reflect just 10 minutes of work but being prepared 24/7. Salvage fees may seem high-someimes representing a significant percentage of the salved boat's value-until you take into account professional towing operation's total investment in boas and equipment, its captains' experience and training, and its constant state of readiness. In addition, it's important to remember that a successful salvage prevents your boat from becoming an even more costly total loss. (For more on how salvage fees are fixed, see 'Fixing the Fee')

The best way to avoid a salvage fee is, of course, prevention: maintaining your boat properly, docking it securely and keeping an eye on the weather. But in the unlikely event your boat ever is in peril, the best protection you can have is a good insurance policy.

"People get scared when they hear the word 'salvage.' They don't need to," McLaughlin says. "All they need to do is make sure they have an insurance company that understands who pays and how much if something happens." He recommends using a firm that specializes in marine rather than autmotive coverage. "Don't be afraid to ask, 'What if my boat sinks? Am I covered for a salvor to come out and recover it?'" he says.

American Marine Underwriters Agency, Inc., which has a relationship with Sea Tow, helps members find the right marine insurance policy for their boats. "If your insurance does cover salvage, which it should, the policy picks up where your Sea Tow coverage ends," says Kathryn Martuscello Hoff, Vice-President of AMU. "Between Sea Tow and the insurance provider, you should have nothing to worry about," she says.

Louisa Rudeen, a marine journalist since 1988, has been on the mastheads of both Motor Boating and Yachting magazines. She is currently living and writing in central Florida, where she keeps her 28-foot cruiser.

All photos for this article courtesy of Capt. Chris Willis, Sea Tow Wrightsville Beach, NC and Capt. John Mclaughlin, Sea Tow Atlantic City, NJ