Identifying factors affecting salvage rewards of crewless vessels — lessons from a case study

Abstract

The disruptive technology which is proposed to allow for unmanned or autonomous operations has garnered attention both on land and at sea. The lack of a crew on board poses interesting and complex challenges for the operations of sea-going vessels. Our study dwells into one such challenge, i.e. the issue of determining a salvage reward of a crewless vessel. This is a study cutting across operational and legal issues since the law of ships is closely connected to the practice of mariners. We look at a recent incident which can be used to make analogous comparisons with what could, one day be the salvage of a crewless vessel. We propose that immense thought should be given to the study of salvage as a legal subject for crewless vessels. Our study finds that most of the traditional elements of a salvage reward are highly dependent on human centric factors which will be affected by a lack of crew. We argue that a less discretionary and more standardised formula should be put in place to determine salvage reward for crewless vessels. We also propose that a changing shipping eco-system would require changes to the understanding of salvage as a professional service.