SCA reduces R5m salvage reward
A Simon’s Town boat charter that towed a robotic submarine owned by mining firm De Beers back to safety after it ran aground, has had its R5.5m salvage reward from the High Court reduced to just R80 000 by the SCA.
A Cape Argus report says the matter goes back to 2017 when De Beers – which owns an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) that it uses to map the seabed in its mining operations – signed a charter agreement with Harry Dilley (HD) for the charter of a work boat, the MV Nkwaza.
The boat, owned and skippered by Harry Dilley, the sole director of HD, was to assist in conducting sea trials in False Bay to commission new equipment installed on the AUV.
During the trials, the AUV ran aground near Simon’s Town.
Two commercial divers subsequently assisted De Beers in recovering the AUV for a fee of R10 000.
Subsequently, HD sued De Beers for a salvage reward of R10m, later reduced to R5.5m, relying on article 13(1) of the International Convention on Salvage to which SA is a signatory.
De Beers denied that the recovery of the AUV was a salvage operation, and argued that HD was obliged to tow the AUV under the charter agreement.
The High Court ruled that HD’s towage of the AUV was voluntary, and that it was therefore entitled to a salvage reward and fixed the reward at R5.5m.
On appeal, the SCA decided that the High Court was correct in finding that HD’s services were rendered voluntarily and that it engaged in a salvage operation, but R5.5m was out of proportion to the services rendered.
As the towage was uneventful, the SCA ruled a reward of R80 000 was fair to both parties.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
