SALVAGE LAW

(ACT NO 2616)
Service which one person renders to the
owner of a ship or goods, by his own labor,
preserving the goods or the ship which the
owner or those entrusted with the care of
them have either abandoned in distress at
sea, or unable to protect and secure.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Law on Salvage is based on equitable principles and

public policy and is not contractual in origin. Historically,
salvage is a right in law when a person acting as volunteer
preserves or contributes so to preserving at sea any vessel,
cargo, freight, or other recognized subject of salvage from
danger.
KINDS OF SALVAGE SERVICE

 Voluntarily, wherein the compensation is dependent upon

success
 Rendered under a contract for a per diem or per
horam wage, payable at all events
 Under a contract for a compensation payable only in
case of success.
ELEMENTS OF A VALID SALVAGE

 There must be a marine peril;

 The service is voluntarily rendered and is not required as an
existing duty or from a special contract;
 There must be success in whole or in part or that the services
rendered contributed to such success
 The vessel sought to be salvaged is shipwrecked beyond the
control of the crew or abandoned, is present when the vessel is
considered a derelict.
DERELICT

A ship or her cargo which is abandoned and deserted at sea

by those who were in charge of it , without any hope of
recovering it, or without any intention of returning to it.
HOW TO DETERMINE DERELICT?
 Property is derelict if the persons in charge quitted
the property with the intention of finally leaving it,
and a change of their intention and an attempt to
return will not change its nature;

 Property is not a derelict if the persons in charge of

it left it with the intention of returning, or of
procuring assistance.
KINDS OF SHIPWRECK

 Jetsam- those goods that are thrown of a ship which was

in danger;
 Flotsam- those goods that floated off the ship while the
ship was in danger or when it sank; (this happens after a
shipwreck or accident)
 Ligan- those goods left at sea on the wreck or tied to a
bouy so that they can be recovered later.
The finder of ligan should return it to the
owner. However, flotsam and jetsam must be
returned only if the owner makes a proper
claim.
WHO MAY CLAIM FOR VALID SALVAGE?

Section 1 of Act 2616 provides “ When in case of shipwreck,

the vessel or its cargo shall be beyond the control of the crew,
or shall have been abandoned by them, and picked up and
conveyed to a safe place by other persons, the latter shall be
entitled to a reward for the salvage. Those who assisted in
saving a vessel or its cargo from shipwreck, shall be entitled
to a like reward.
REWARD FOR SALVAGE OR ASSISTANCE

 Owners (50%)
 Captain (25%)
 Remainder of the crew (25%) in proportion of their
respective salaries in the absence of an agreement..
SALVAGE

 In the Presence of captain or a person acting in

stead

 In the absence of the captain, or the owner, or a

representative of either
A.) IN THE PRESENCE OF CAPTAIN OR A
PERSON ACTING IN STEAD
 No one can take from the see or proceed with the
salvage without the consent of such captain

 Owner or his representative shall be entitled to the

delivery of the vessel or the thing saved provided he
has payed the bonds to secure the expenses and
proper reward
BONDS AND REWARDS
• BONDS
Shall be determined by the collector of customs, if any,
or the judge of CFI of the place where the vessel or
merchandise was saved.
• REWARD
In the absence of an agreement or if the agreement is
questionable or impugned or the reward is excessive, the
RTC shall fix the reward for salvage.
THINGS TO BE CONSIDERED IN FIXING THE
REWARD
 The expenditures made to recover or save the vessel or the cargo
or both;
 The zeal demonstrated, the time employed, the services rendered;
 The excessive express occasioned the number of persons who
aided;
 The danger to which they and their vessels were exposed as well
as that which menaced the things recovered or salvaged; and
 The value of such things after deducting the expenses.
B.) IN THE ABSENCE OF THE CAPTAIN, OR
THE OWNER, OR A REPRESENTATIVE OF
EITHER
 The person who shall save a vessel or cargo at the sea must
convey and deliver such vessel or cargo to the collector of
customs, if the port has a collector, or to the provincial treasurer
or municipal mayor.
 Collector of customs, provincial treasurer or municipal mayor, or
to whom the salvage is reported, shall order:
1. The thing saved to be safeguarded and inventoried;
2. The advertisement within 30 days subsequent to the salvage;
3. The sale at public auction of the thing saved
ADVERTISEMENT

The advertisement shall be made in one of the local

newspaper or in the nearest newspaper published, of all the
details of the disaster, with a statement of the mark and
number of the effect requesting all interested persons to
make their claims.
CONDITIONS
 If the thing saved has not been claimed within 3 months from the
publication of the advertisement, the thing saved shall sold in a
public auction, the proceeds, after deducting the expenses and the
proper reward shall be deposited in the insular treasury.

 If the saved vessel or merchandise was not claimed after 3 years,

the salvor shall be entitled to one half of the deposit, and the other
half shall go to the insular government.
PUBLIC AUCTION

In case of public auction, the net amount shall be determined by

deducting from the proceeds the expenses of their:
 Custody;
 Conservation;
 Advertisement;
 Auction;
 Whatever taxes or duties they should pay for their entrance;
 Expenses of salvage
RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF SALVORS
 Entitled to compensation for services rendered;
 Entitled to lien upon the property salvaged whereby he is not
bound to part with the possession of the vessel salvaged or of
the cargo saved until he is paid his due compensation;
 Has a right of possession of a derelict;
 Has a right to retain the abandoned vessel or cargo until the
salvage is completed, but if the salvor has inadequate means to
save, he is bound to accept additional assistance from other
salvors;
RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF SALVORS
 The salvor shall convey and deliver the vessel or merchandise as
soon as possible to the collector of customs or to the provincial
treasurer or municipal mayor
 Shall be entitled to the deposits as reward if the vessels or cargo
was not claimed;
 Owner of the salving vessel is entitled to the salvage reward for
the use of his vessel in rendering salvage services even though
he may not have been present at the time the salvage service was
rendered
RIGHTS AND OBLIGATION OF OWNERS

 Owner of the vessel which is a derelict does not renounce

his property;
 Right to the delivery of the thing saved after the salvage is
accomplished; so long as he have payed the bonds and
rewards
WHO ARE NOT ENTITLED TO SALVAGE
COMPENSATION?

 The crew of the vessel shipwrecked or which was is

danger of shipwreck;
 He who shall have commenced the salvage in spite of
opposition of the captain or his representative; and
 He who shall have failed to comply with the provisions of
Section three.