In 219 BC, the Chinese Emperor Qin Shihuang (r. 221–210 BC) assembled an expedition consisting of a thousand people for an unsuccessful salvage attempt of the Nine Tripod Cauldrons.^[3]

In Early Modern Europe, diving bells were often used for salvage work. In 1658, Albrecht von Treileben was contracted by King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden to salvage the warship Vasa, which sank in Stockholm harbor on its maiden voyage in 1628. Between 1663 and 1665 von Treileben's divers were successful in raising most of the cannon, working from a diving bell.^[4] In 1687, Sir William Phipps used an inverted container to recover £200,000-worth of treasure from a Spanish ship sunk off the coast of San Domingo.

The era of modern salvage operations was inaugurated with the development of the first surface supplied diving helmets by the inventors, Charles and John Deane and Augustus Siebe, in the 1830s. Royal George, a 100-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, sank undergoing routine maintenance work in 1782, and the Deane brothers were commissioned to perform salvage work on the wreck. Using their new air-pumped diving helmets, they managed to recover about two dozen cannons.

Following on from this success, Colonel of the Royal Engineers Charles Pasley commenced the first large scale salvage operation in 1839. His plan was to break up the wreck of Royal George with gunpowder charges and then salvage as much as possible using divers.

Pasley's diving salvage operation set many diving milestones, including the first recorded use of the buddy system in diving, when he ordered that his divers operate in pairs. In addition, the first emergency swimming ascent was made by a diver after his air line became tangled and he had to cut it free. A less fortunate milestone was the first medical account of a helmet squeeze suffered by a Private Williams: the early diving helmets used had no non-return valves on the breathing air supply hose; this meant that if a hose became severed near or above the surface, the high-pressure air around the diver's head rapidly escaped from the helmet leaving a large pressure difference between the water and the suit and helmet interior that tended to force the diver into rigid interior of the helmet. At the British Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in 1842, Sir John Richardson described the diving apparatus and treatment of diver Roderick Cameron following an injury that occurred on 14 October 1841 during the salvage operations.^[5]

Pasley recovered 12 more guns in 1839, 11 more in 1840, and 6 in 1841. In 1842 he recovered only one iron 12-pounder because he ordered the divers to concentrate on removing the hull timbers rather than search for guns. Other items recovered, in 1840, included the surgeon's brass instruments, silk garments of satin weave 'of which the silk was perfect', and pieces of leather; but no woollen clothing.^[6] By 1843 the whole of the keel and the bottom timbers had been raised and the site was declared clear.^[7]

There are four types of salvage:

Contract salvageEdit

In contract salvage the owner of the property and salvor enter into a salvage contract prior to the commencement of salvage operations and the amount that the salvor is paid is determined by the contract. This can be a fixed amount, based on a "time and materials" basis, or any other terms that both parties agree to. The contract may also state that payment is only due if the salvage operation is successful (a.k.a. "No Cure, No Pay"),^[8] or that payment is due even if the operation is not successful. By far the commonest single form of salvage contract internationally is Lloyd's Standard Form of Salvage Agreement (2011, superseded in 2020), an English law arbitration agreement administered by the Council of Lloyd's, London.^[9][10][11]

Pure salvageEdit

In the United States, in pure salvage (also called "merit salvage"), there is no contract between the owner of the goods and the salvor. The relationship is one which is implied by law. The salvor of property under pure salvage must bring his claim for salvage in a court which has jurisdiction, and this will award salvage based upon the "merit" of the service and the value of the salvaged property.^{[citation needed]}

Pure salvage claims are divided into "high-order" and "low-order" salvage. In high-order salvage, the salvor exposes himself and his crew to the risk of injury and loss or damage to his equipment in order to salvage the property that is in peril. Examples of high-order salvage are boarding a sinking ship in heavy weather, boarding a ship which is on fire, raising a ship, plane, or other sunken property, or towing a ship which is in the surf away from the shore. Low-order salvage occurs where the salvor is exposed to little or no personal risk. Examples of low-order salvage include towing another vessel in calm seas, supplying a vessel with fuel, or pulling a vessel off a sand bar. Salvors performing high order salvage receive substantially greater salvage award than those performing low order salvage.^{[citation needed]}

In order for a claim to be awarded three requirements must be met: The property must be in peril, the services must be rendered voluntarily (no duty to act), and finally the salvage must be successful in whole or in part.

There are several factors that would be considered by a court in establishing the amount of the salvor's award. Some of these include the difficulty of the operation, the risk involved to the salvor, the value of the property saved, the degree of danger to which the property was exposed, and the potential environmental impacts. It would be a rare case in which the salvage award would be greater than 50 percent of the value of the property salvaged. More commonly, salvage awards amount to 10 percent to 25 percent of the value of the property.^{[citation needed]}

Private boat owners, to protect themselves from salvage laws in the event of a rescue, would be wise to clarify with their rescuer if the operation is to be considered salvage, or simply assistance towing. If this is not done, the boat owner may be shocked to discover that the rescuer may be eligible for a substantial salvage award, and a lien may be placed on the vessel if it is not paid.

Naval salvageEdit

Several navies have Rescue Salvage vessels which are to support their fleet and to come to the aid of vessels in distress. In addition they may have Deep Salvage Units.^{[citation needed]} A DSU (salvage) is a unit attached to the US Navy.^[12]

PlunderEdit

When vessels are lost in an unknown area, or are not protected, a potential salvor might discover and plunder the wreck without knowledge of the wreck's owner. Salvaging a foreign navy's vessel is against international law.^[13] World War II-era shipwrecks near Indonesia, where most of the water is shallower than 80 metres (260 ft) are threatened by scavenging for low-background steel for use in medical and scientific equipment.^[14]

Intelligence salvageEdit

At the height of the Cold War the United States raised a portion of Soviet submarine K-129 in the Western Pacific Ocean. The CIA, who conducted the salvage under the guise of "mining the seafloor for manganese nodules" with a commercial vessel, spent over $800 million (1974 dollars) on the clandestine operation now known as Project Azorian.^{[citation needed][clarification needed]}

Salvage law has as a basis that a salvor should be rewarded for risking his or her life and property to rescue the property of another from peril. Salvage law is in some ways similar to the wartime law of prize, the capture, condemnation and sale of a vessel and its cargo as a spoil of war, insofar as both compensate the salvor/captors for risking life and property.^[15] The two areas of law may dovetail. For instance, a vessel taken as a prize, then recaptured by friendly forces on its way to the prize adjudication, is not deemed a prize of the rescuers (title merely reverts to the original owner). But the rescuing vessel is entitled to a claim for salvage.^[16] Likewise a vessel found badly damaged, abandoned and adrift after enemy fire disabled her does not become a prize of a rescuing friendly vessel, but the rescuers may claim salvage.^[17]

A vessel is considered in peril if it is in danger or could become in danger. Examples of a vessel in peril are when it is aground or in danger of going aground. Prior to a salvage attempt the salvor receives permission from the owner or the master to assist the vessel. If the vessel is abandoned no permission is needed.^{[citation needed]}

The amount of the award depends on, in part, the value of the salved vessel, the degree of risk involved and the degree of peril the vessel was in. Legal disputes do arise from the claiming of salvage rights. To reduce the amount of a claim after an accident, boat owners or skippers often remain on board and in command of the vessel; they do everything possible to minimise further loss and seek to minimize the degree of risk the vessel is in. If another vessel offers a tow and the master or owner negotiates an hourly rate before accepting then salvage does not apply.

Some maritime rescue organisations, such as Britain's Royal National Lifeboat Institution, do not insist the crews of their lifeboats renounce their right to claim compensation for salvage.^{[citation needed]}, but should they choose to make a claim, they must pay for the use of the lifeboat and make good any damage suffered by her. Claims for salvage by lifeboat crews are rare. Jetsam are goods that were thrown off a ship, which was in danger, to save the ship. Flotsam are goods that floated off the ship while it was in danger or when it sank. Ligan or lagan are goods left in the sea on the wreck or tied to a buoy so that they can be recovered later by the owners. Derelict is abandoned vessels or cargo.

In the United Kingdom under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995, jetsam, flotsam, lagan and all other cargo and wreckage remain the property of their original owners. Anyone, including recreational divers and beachcombers, removing those goods must inform the Receiver of Wreck to avoid the accusation of theft. As the leisure activity of wreck diving is common, there are laws to protect historic wrecks of archaeological importance and the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 protects ships and aircraft that are the last resting place of the remains of members of the armed forces.

The 1910 Brussels Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules with Respect to Assistance and Salvage at Sea reflects the traditional legal principles of marine salvage. The 1989 International Convention on Salvage incorporated the essential provisions of the 1910 Convention, and added some new provisions besides. The 1989 Salvage Convention entered force on 14 July 1996 with nearly twenty parties in agreement. For states which are parties to both conventions, the 1989 Convention takes precedence over the 1910 one where their provisions are mutually incompatible.

• The largest marine salvage operation on record was the raising of the German High Seas Fleet which was scuttled at Scapa Flow in 1919. Between 1922 and 1939, 45 of the 52 warships sunk, including six battleships, five battlecruisers, five cruisers and 32 destroyers were raised from the bottom of the flow at depths of up to 45 metres, primarily by Cox & Danks Ltd & Metal Industries Ltd, and broken up for scrap.
• The harbor clearance and ship recovery after the attack on Pearl Harbor. USS California and USS West Virginia, resting on the bottom of Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, were refloated and repaired.^[18] They were key participants in the Battle of Surigao Strait in October 1944.^[19]
• The Swedish 17th-century warship Vasa was raised in April 1961. She had lain on the bottom of Stockholm harbor since her capsizing on her maiden voyage in 1628.
• The raising and subsequent conservation of Mary Rose, the flagship of the navy of King Henry VIII, which sank in 1545 in the Solent, North of the Isle of Wight. As with Vasa, the salvage of Mary Rose in 1982 was an operation of immense complexity and was a major achievement in marine archaeology. The remains of the ship, together with recovered weapons, sailing equipment and crew's personal effects are now on display at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and the nearby Mary Rose Museum.
• In 1943–44 a famous Great Lakes salvage engineer, Capt. John Roen, did what was considered financially impossible and salvaged SS George M. Humphrey, which sank in a collision in 23 metres (77 ft) of water in the Straits of Mackinac, by first removing the ore it was carrying and then using two vessels on each side of the underwater wreck, with cables that "walked" George M. Humphrey in stages underwater (reducing the weight drastically) to shallower water where it was then pumped out and re-floated and towed out. Some of the techniques developed by Roen for the salvage of George M. Humphrey established methods which became new standards for future salvages, where before many wrecks were considered too heavy and large to salvage.^[20]
• In 1968 Shipwrecks Inc., headed by E. Lee Spence, was granted South Carolina State Salvage License No. 1 to salvage the wreck of the American Civil War blockade runner SS Georgiana under that state's new underwater antiquities act, which had been drafted and passed at the instigation of Spence, who had discovered the wreck in 1965. Spence's work on the wreck was some of the very first underwater archaeology done in the United States.^[21][22] Spence and his crew raised over 1,000,000 individual artifacts, conservatively valued at over $12,000,000. The artifacts fell into three basic groups: medicines, munitions and merchandise. They ranged from tiny brass sewing pins and glass buttons to heavy iron cannons and included such things as cannonballs; bullets; bottles; pottery; carved bone toothbrushes; pencils; match cases; and Wedgwood china.^[23]
• In 1974 the U.S. CIA attempted to recover the sunken Soviet Golf-class submarine K-129 in the secret and expensive intelligence operation Project Azorian. The attempt was only partially successful.
• Nuestra Señora de Atocha was discovered in 1985 with recovered gold and other artifacts worth an estimated US$400 million.^[24]
• The SS Central America, which sank in 1857 carrying 14,000 kilograms (30,000 lb) of gold, was discovered in 1988. Salvage efforts remain incomplete.
• Vrouw Maria was discovered in 1999, and after a protracted legal battle, plans for salvage are still in the discussion and planning stage.^{[citation needed]} It is known to contain priceless works of art.
• The search for the wreckage and flight data recorders of South African Airways Flight 295 at 4,900 metres (16,000 ft).^[25]
• On 12 August 2000, the Russian Oscar-class submarine Kursk sank in the Barents Sea following an internal explosion, leading to the death of 118 sailors and officers. A portion of the destroyed submarine was raised to the surface in late 2001 to recover the bodies and eliminate the hazard from Kursk's two nuclear reactors.
• USS Cole was severely damaged in October 2000 by terrorists while it was harbored in the Yemeni port of Aden. It was rescued, salvaged, and repaired to serve again.
• In July 2002, HMS Nottingham suffered serious damage due to a navigational error, striking Wolf Rock near Lord Howe Island. She was towed, stern first to Newcastle, New South Wales in August 2002 for minor repairs and was consequently returned to the United Kingdom aboard the heavy lifting vessel MV Swan.
• In July 2006, the Japanese car carrier Cougar Ace, packed with 4,700 Mazda cars and Isuzu trucks bound for the North American market, was traveling from Japan to Vancouver, British Columbia, when it stranded in the Pacific Ocean. The ship's condition quickly began to deteriorate as it took on water. The salvage team involved had to work solidly for 24 days straight to try and save the vessel and its extremely lucrative cargo.^[26]
• In May 2007, Odyssey Marine Exploration undertook the Black Swan Project and recovered an estimated US$500 million in silver and gold coins from a shipwreck in the Atlantic Ocean.^[27] However, the wreck and its contents were claimed by the Spanish government.^[28] A legal dispute through United States Federal Courts was resolved in February 2012, when it was reported that U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Pizzo had ordered Odyssey to return the coins to Spain by 24 February 2012 for dispersal to museums, not to heirs. The Supreme Court declined to stay this order and Odyssey has agreed to abide by the decision.^[29]
• In 2021, Phoenix International Holdings, Inc. (Phoenix), under the direction of the U.S. Navy's Supervisor of Salvage and Diving (SUPSALV), located and recovered the fuselage of a downed MH-60 Seahawk helicopter in the Philippine Sea from a record breaking depth of 5,814 metres (19,075 ft) beneath the surface. This is 81 metres (266 ft) deeper than the previous salvage record, also set by Phoenix and SUPSALV during the recovery of a C-2 Greyhound aircraft in 2019. M. Heinrich | Semantic Scholar

• Admiralty law – Totality of applicable law for the oceans and their use
• The captain goes down with the ship – Maritime tradition
• Michael Hatcher – British explorer and marine salvor (born 1940)
• Professional diving – Underwater diving where divers are paid for their work
• Receiver of Wreck – Official who administers law dealing with maritime wrecks and salvage
• Scuttling – Act of deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull
• Augustus Siebe – German-born British engineer mostly known for his contributions to diving equipment
• E. Lee Spence – Underwater archaeologist
• Treasure hunting – Physical search for treasure
• USS Arizona salvaged artifacts – List of salvaged artifacts from the sunken US battleship Arizona
• Wreck diving – Recreational diving on wrecks
• Wrecking (shipwreck)

• Gores, Joseph N. (1971), Marine Salvage: The Unforgiving Business of No Cure, No Pay, Garden City, NY, US: Doubleday, OCLC 136301. Preface by Willard Bascom.{{citation}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)

• Madsen, Daniel (2003), Resurrection: Salvaging the Battle Fleet at Pearl Harbor, US Naval Institute Press, ISBN 978-1-55750-488-3.
• Milwee, William (1996), Modern Marine Salvage, Cornell Maritime Press.
• Tew, Ian (2007), Salvage, A personal odyssey, Seafarer Books, Sheridan House.

• Salvage Law Links
• Largest ever salvage award Cherry Valley and tug J.A. ORGERON in 1994
• Proceedings of the Workshop on State-level Responses to Abandoned and Derelict Vessels National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• Salvage Code Red A new documentary for National Geographic Channel looking at the world of marine salvage
• WRECKSITE Worldwide free database of + 65.000 wrecks with history, maritime charts and GPS positions
• The International Convention on Salvage 1989 (complete text PDF)