EDITORIAL COMMENT


Salvaging the situation


Beached off the Devon coast during the first half of 2007, salvors removed bunkers and containers from MSC Napoli with the intention of refloating the casualty (credit: International Salvage Union).


A


s the global maritime industry’s safety record improves, the need for traditional salvage services


is changing. In recent years it has been recognised that the salvage industry has been under considerable operational and financial stress. Yet the importance of successful intervention in maritime accidents to save lives and to minimise environmental damage, has never been greater. At the same time, the sophistication and expense of the equipment required to perform modern salvage tasks effectively continues to rise. Te tonnage of pollutants that have been


salvaged by members of the International Salvage Union (ISU) decreased in 2008. Te union revealed that the total figure


for 2008 was slightly over 667,000tonnes recovered over the course of 256 salvage operations, which is a 6% decrease on the 283 casualties recorded in 2007. Oil, chemicals, bunkers and other pollutants fell almost by 40% in tonnage from 1.1 million tonnes in 2007 to 667,497tonnes in 2008. ISU secretary-general Mike Lacey argued


that the decline in recovered pollutants was a response to frequent year-on-year fluctuations in the data and was not truly representative of the work carried out by the union’s salvage services. Lacey said: “Tis is oſten due to the


relatively large impact of a small number of very large crude carrier cases. Over time, the number of salvage services delivered each year by ISU members is reasonably consistent.” Tese figures were obtained in response


Ship & Boat International March/April 2009


to the Annual Pollution Prevention Survey that was compiled by ISU using data from 30 of the union’s members. Of the total pollutants recovered, 69% was made up of crude oil and diesel oil;


“Members of the ISU also said that they would like to see the publication of salvage awards, saying that this was in the best interests of the salvage community”


12% chemicals; 13% bunkers; and 6% other pollutants, including gasoline, slops and dirty ballast. While the volume of crude oil recovered


showed a decline of nearly 50% on figures for 2007, the volume of chemicals, at 81,366tonnes, was up 40% from the previous year. At 40,030tonnes, the amount of “other pollutants” recovered saw an increase of more 57%. For the salvage industry, heightened


emphasis on pollution has probably been the most significant agent for change in the industry in recent years. Avoiding environ- mental disaster has become as integral a part


of salvage work as has the more traditional role of saving ship crews and their cargoes. Another issue facing the salvage industry


in the last year has been the escalating cost of wreck removal in marine accidents. Costs have been on the increase since the Exxon Valdez accident in 1989 and more recent incidents, such as MSC Napoli have further fuelled the rise. President of ISU, Arnold Witte, recognised


that the marine underwriting community was suffering as a result of the cost increases and called for all parties to work together to find a solution to the problem. Given the current economic climate,


insurers are under increased pressure to bear the cost of the wreck removal. Witte acknowledged that while all parties


involved in a casualty need to protect their own positions, competing interests between the parties were “diverting the successful completion of the salvage”. Te solution, Witte said, was “within our


industry not outside. It is for us to recognise a common interest in solving problems together”. Te industry needs to “review contracting mechanisms and explore reasons for excessive costs”, he added. Members of the ISU also said in early


March that they would like to see the publication of salvage awards, saying that this was in the best interests of the salvage community. They also underlined the importance


of special casualty representatives, who represent insurers during a casualty, remain- ing independent of salvage companies or Protection and Indemnity (P&I) clubs. SBI


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