Post hurricane adrift boats?

[BandB]

Originally Posted by Tkeeth

Exact no, but $5,000 tow bills are not unheard of as a general rule. I am sure this also depends on location and I suspect South Texas to be not much of an issue,most would just help. For me, as another said, I would just try to secure and find the owner and turn it over. There was a story some time back about a salvager who was called to help tow a boat or something then got on board and demanded several thousand to give it back. I will see if I can locate.....

And some salvage work is worth thousands or more. It all depends on the circumstances. I'm going to look at it two ways.

First, it being my boat. Then if someone finds it floating aimlessly and brings it to a dock, then I do believe they should be compensated and compensated extra due to the circumstances. Determining what is reasonable is difficult but I'm happy to have my boat back.

Second, as me running across one floating aimlessly at sea. My first effort would be to try to reach the owner. If able to reach them I would ask permission for one of us to board it. If unable to reach the owner, I would have one of us board it to see if it was in condition to be run home rather than towed. If it required a long tow, I'd secure it with an anchor and wait, keeping watch over it. Then I would make it clear to the tow company that it was a tow, not salvage. It would be better if I could just run it to the nearest marina and continue to look for the owner. I'm not a professional and don't want any pay, although if I got it towed, I'd definitely want that reimbursed.

[jmschmidt]

If a vessel is claimed as salvage following a total loss declaration which would be after the owner and insurance company have agreed to a settlement, it pretty much is "finders keepers" but there still is a legal procedure to go through which is pretty much international law. Off the coast of Somalia though... not so much.

Uninsured total losses must be declared by the owner which frees up the vessel for possible finder-keepers and for the owner to claim a tax deduction. If the loss is never declared there is a time limit following which finders-keepers can go to work. Never declared by the owner no tax deduction. fruadulent declarations are subject to perjury in the US.

[Lionelsole]

Lloyds open form, the time proven standard for marine salvage starts with ' no cure, no fee'.
The arbitration premise is that the value of the salvaged vessel is assessed before and after the service. A boat, adrift and 5 minutes from hitting rocks might be deemed to be of no value so, if put on a place of safety, then the salvor might be awarded full value. The owner (which might be the insurers) would have the right to buy but would not be allowed to use it until payment was made.
If, on the other hand, a vessel in no immediate danger was taken in tow, and damaged, then money would be expected to flow in the other direction.

[Colin A]

It all depends.
James Mercante is a maritime lawyer in NY he has written quite a bit about salvage over the years. It can be very expensive if some one saves your very nice boat from serious damage. Here is one of Mercante's articles
http://www.rubinfiorella.com/pdf/10-1-2011.pdf

Here are a few more but many are more commercial marine
Rubin, Fiorella & Friedman, LLP | New York Attorneys News & Publications

My favorite part of salvage is once it's determined to be salvage it usually switches to a value of asset argument. Say 5-20%. So if someone salvages a 3k boat they will just try to bill an hourly rate. It they save a 7 figure boat they will ask for a percentage. When I worked in Yacht insurance these claims were always fun (as is interesting not literally fun)

[seabreez]

Originally Posted by MidwestRefugee

A thought has been nagging at me. If a boat breaks free and goes adrift during a hurricane can just anyone come along and claim salvage rights on it?

In Canada, if you find a boat and want to claim salvage, the first step to do is call the receiver of wrecks and claim salvage. Then you have to find serial number, make and model and try to find the owner by advising the police and advertising in the local paper. Then you have to wait until the receiver of wreck give you a clearance paper and only then can you claim it as yours. Now in the event that the owner is located and claim that he wants his vessel to be returned, you can claim expenses of towing, storage etc... and then you make a deal for compensation. I have done this four times. Maybe works differently in other countries...