Yachting and Boating World forums: MSC Napoli - a succint summary from downunder

The article below was copied from the latest edition of the e-zine 'Bow Wave' (www.wavyline.com) - I think it summarises nicely what many forumites were arguing passionately about a week or 2 ago elsewhere.

From Derek Luxford of Australian solicitors Hicksons:-

Some of you may have seen on tv or read in the papers in
the last few weeks scenes of hundreds of people
flocking to a beach in Devon (UK) furiously helping
themselves to cargoes washed up on the beach from the
container vessel MSC NAPOLI as if there was no tomorrow.
The ship has not sunk, it is stranded and most of its
cargo (all in containers) is still on the ship. The
containers which have ended up on the beach appear to
have been washed off the ship accidentally as opposed
to being deliberately jettisoned to lighten the cargo.
The cargo includes valuable items like BMW motor bikes
as well as less attractive consumer goods such as disposable
nappies, and chemicals and other dangerous goods. These
cargo hunters have been variously called pirates,
scavengers, salvors, and lots else besides. Some of them
look very professional and others look a bit like Spike
Milligan's "Beachcomber" character for those old enough
to recall his madcap tv show some years ago.

Who owns the goods ? Can you just help yourself in these
situations? Can you keep the goods with or without paying
anyone for them? Do you have to tell anyone that you have
taken the goods? What would happen if the vessel was
stranded off a Sydney beach?

The answer is much the same in Australia as in England
due to the prominence of English maritime law and customs
in Australia and many other places. The situation is
governed by the Commonwealth Navigation Act 1912 and the
common law. This is the legal position:

1. No, you can not just help yourself with impunity.

2. The goods still belong to their owner (ie whoever paid
for them to be on the ship in the first place), and in
this case the ownership will be capable of fairly easy
identification. It might be different if the goods had
been washed off a vessel which sank way out at sea.
Goods floating around the sea after the ship sinks or
which have been jettisoned are called flotsam and
jetsam respectively and sometimes a beachcomber might
be able to acquire good title to them. But not in this case.

3. You should report your find of the wrecked cargo to the
quaintly named Receiver of Wrecks! In practice this may
mean the local policeman. If you do this you may in some
circumstances be able to obtain a salvage award as
remuneration from salving the cargo if it has any
marketable value after your salvage efforts. Do not
expect much of a reward unless your efforts have involved
unusual risk to your own life or property.

4. If you just make off stealthily with what you have picked
up on the beach with no intention of returning it to its
rightful owner you are a good old fashioned thief and
liable to prosecution if you do not return the goods.
It's also common law conversion. The insurers of the
goods may come after you exercising their subrogated rights.
Those people unwise enough to have advertised their
beachcombing activities to the world may well find
themselves having to invite the Courts to look at ways
of expanding defences such as "I was just trying to give
the bike a decent home guv' till the real owner came along,
and no, I have no idea why it appeared on ebay".

5. You can always buy the goods from their true owner on
a "salvage" basis which will give you a bargain and good
title as well as showing you are a good citizen. I can
see lots of people rushing to the owners can't you?
However the scavengers are not pirates. Piracy involves
boarding a ship at sea with violence;

6. Best to do it quietly at night and keep quiet later
is the lesson for the beachwise.

7. If the ship is not floated free or otherwise moved fairly
soon then the Government will give its owners a Wreck
Removal Notice to move it to stop it being a menace to
navigation, the environment etc; big penalties apply if
it is not moved pronto.

8. Ships are usually insured for wreck removal liabilities as
well as for loss and damage to cargo and damage they cause
to third parties and their properties. in these situtions
the shipowner will usually arrange to have salvors attempt
to salvage the ship and cargo as quickly as possible to
prevent further loss and damage to everyone concerned
including the environment. After the salvage is completed
the parties try to sort out their claims as to who owes who
how much for salvaging the ship and cargo and for causing
the loss and damage in the first place. Sometimes these
claims are resolved amicably and sometimes they end up
in court or arbitration.

Watch out for any Transport and Trade team members bearing
any articles looking suspiciously waterlogged.

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