Salvage - the location and retrieval of a sunken or stranded water vessel - is mandatory and must be prompt. Salvage operations clear the path for the safe passage of other vessels and protect the waters from pollution. The salvage procedure depends on the type of vessel, its location, the extent of damage, the environmental cost, and the economic cost.
Marine salvage is not just about recovering maritime vessels; it involves rescuing crew members, recovering cargo, refloating, and repairing water vessels when possible. In refloating, salvagers use a pump to extract water and cause the ship to float.
Some operations require extensive experience and special equipment, such as diving robots for searches or cranes for refloating and towing. In these situations, the vessel owner can contract a marine salvage company to conduct salvage operations.
Marine salvage comes down to weighing the cost of salvage against the benefits. If the price of retrieving a vessel or its cargo far outweighs the benefits and the wreck poses no environmental risk and hinders no maritime operations, salvage experts may decide to leave it alone. Response time is key in salvage operations, whether for floating or sunken vessels. A timely response may reduce the cost and extent of damage to the vessel and the environment.
Offshore salvage is perhaps the most challenging salvage operation. Search-and-rescue or recovery operations of a ship that has sunk in the open water are difficult. Open waters may have unfriendly weather and high waves. As such, offshore salvage operations can take months.
Harbor salvage is for a sunken or stranded vessel at the port. Due to proximity to the shore or docking and shelter from waves and currents, harbor salvage operations are generally less challenging.
What can be retrieved depends on the value and extent of the damage. In some instances, cargo salvage is more important than vessel salvage. If a ship was transporting hazardous materials, such as barrels of oil, that pose an environmental threat, ridding the waters of these materials may take priority over recovering the ship or other cargo.
Even when salvagers can recover neither the vessel nor its cargo, they may be able to save some valuable parts or components. For instance, a military vessel with top-secret weapons or systems cannot be left lying on the ocean floor, especially in international waters where anyone could access it. Salvagers may be able to disassemble the ship to recover parts.
When a ship is damaged or stranded but still floating, afloat salvage is performed. Afloat salvage is about damage control, which may include hull welding, cargo shifting, rebalancing, or structural reinforcement. With timely response, afloat operation should be less operationally challenging, and the vessel may resume its journey.
Shipwreck salvage is performed when salvagers can recover neither the ship nor the cargo, but the sunken or stranded vessel is blocking a waterway. This low-priority operation may include scattering the vessel in deep waters or refloating or towing it to the shore for disposal. When a catastrophic event such as a tsunami, collision, or explosion occurs, destroying multiple water vessels simultaneously, salvagers perform clearance salvage to rid waterways of the vessels and restore normal maritime operations.
