Posted by Another lawyer writes on July 16, 2004 at 09:37:13 from 213.38.124.194 user ACB.
In Reply to: Re: twice... posted by andy bolger on July 16, 2004 at 00:57:40:
Actually, there is a single case, at first instance, which suggests that a salvage award can be enhanced if the salvors have averted a liability to a third party. It's probably bad law, but there was a fashion for citing it amongst young shipping lawyers in the 1970's.
The question of liability salvage was raised in the consultations leading to the 1989 Salvage Convention, which does provide for a payment of up to twice the salvor's expenses where a liability is averted but no property is salved, but according to Lord Donaldson, who was there, and who has corresponded with me about this, there was not enough support for him to feel that he could push the idea further.
I'm sure you wanted to know that.
Yarmouth was indeed a centre of "salvaging" in the nineteenth century - before the development of steam ships and steam tugs the coasts of East Anglia accounted for more wrecks than anywhere else. The "beach companies" of local longshoremen, from Haisborough to Aldeburgh, used to man lookout towers along the beach and, if they saw a ship in trouble, would put out to her in a beach yawl and offer assistance, which might be taking an anchor off to her, help with pumping, pilotage into a safe port, and so on. They claimed salvage for this and this was the basis of their livlihood; on the whole, they were tough characters but, unlike Cornwall, there is no suspicion of deliberate wrecking in East Anglia. Probably because it was unnecessary, there being a sufficient supply of naturally occurring wrecks.
One of the Suffolk beach companies challenged the yacht "America" with their yawl but the "America"'s owners said they would only race for a hundred guinea stake, which the Suffolk longshoremen could not afford.
By Ransome's time the beach companies were extinct, but they were just passing out of living memory, and it was probably this folk memory that accounted for the bad reputation of Yarmouth amongst Broads holidaymakers.
Watch towers survive at several places on the Suffolk coast - there are a pair at Aldeburgh - and there are half models of beach yawls in the Southwold Sailor's Reading Room.