Towing Agreement

[CREZZ]

Evening All,

 

My brother told me a story the other day and i wondered if anyone in the club has had this problem , or if everyone knows about it .

 

Basically , he was out for a run in his boat when an alarm buzzer went off in his engine compartment .

As he lifted the hatch he realised he was in the poo as the engine bay was filling up with water rapidly , which is not the best thing to happen while your at sea , with no vhf either .

 

Luckily for him he had not long overtaken a fishing boat who by this time had caught him up and could see the problem unfolding in front off him . Seeing that he had no radio on board , the fishing boat radioed the life boat for help .

 

The Fishing boat then offered to tow my brothers boat back to the harbour due to the time it would take the lifeboat to get to them , my brother accepted and they set back towards the harbour . With the help of one of the crew he managed to solve the leak problem , apparently the doofer valve had become disconnected from the gromet flange adaptor coupling switch thing .

 

Anyway , about halfway back to the harbour the lifeboat appeared and took over the towing , allowing the fishing boat to get back to work .

 

Getting to the point off my post at last .

 

One of the life boat crew asked my brother what agreement he had made with the fishing boat , for the tow back to harbour , and seeing the blank expression on his face proceeded to tell him that you should always make an agreement with any boat , RNLI excluded , that takes you in tow should you have an engine failure etc .

It has something to do with salvage rights and he said the fishing boat owners would have been able to take his boat and there was nothing he could do about it .

 

 

[Afishionado]

Basicaly the RNLI is right, but there are lots of and's and but's, so this is only a basic guide...........

 

First and formost is the question of whether the owner had abandoned the boat. He can do this WHILST STILL ABOARD!!! and in the most innocent of manners. If as your freind did the skipper INVITES another person aboard and surrenders control (lets them take over, ie "Would you like me to sort this out for you?" "Yes please")

the craft is deemed as being abandoned by it's owner and its full value can be claimed by the salvor. Lesser degrees of this abandonment can be constituted by using the salvors (rescuers) ropes rather than using your own ropes. If your problem as skipper is not life threatening and/or you are not badly injured you or your crew ask for help or help is offered, do not invite another person aboard to solve your problem without first agreeing that his visit is good will and creates no lien on your craft. Clearly state that at all times you are in charge of events if you are able. Use your own warps/ropes for towing or tieing alongside.

 

These are only basic rules and even these can be argued in court but if you are 'rescued' by an avaricious bugger it is best to be able to argue your point having been fully aware of what the consequences are.

 

Having said all that in over 50 years of mucking about with boats I don't think I have heard of any incident of salvors rights being forced upon an unfortunate owner. On the other hand I have helped a few out of Poo Creek myself and never asked for reward.

 

Mad Mike

[CREZZ]

Sorry . premature posting .

 

what i meant to end the story with is , can this really happen ?

 

If it can then it might pay to make a note next time your in trouble and in need of a tow .

 

 

Andy

 

 

[shytalk]

the law is quite complex on salvage rights but as i understand it if you take another vessels rope then salvage can be claimed the amount usually a percentage of the vessels value taking in to account the risk the salvour was in to affect the rescue ie if a bot is broken down and is drifting onto a lee shore in deteriorating conditions and is towed to safety the salvour would get a bigger award than if the tow was from calm open waters where there was no immediate danger but only a few greedy people ever charge most are glad to help hopeing that the favour would be returned if needed

[Maverick Martin]

One thing to bear in mind if you are rescued, the boat that gives the tow will use considerably more fuel towing you in. So even if its just a few miles it would be gentlemanly to offer a reward that would at least cover the rescuers expenses. Assuming he doesn't claim salvours rights that is

[crazy fred]

Compensation for Rescuing or Repairing a Vessel

If you find a vessel in danger of sinking and tow it to safety, pump it out or repair it to prevent it from sinking, you do not gain ownership. However, you may seek reasonable compensation from the owner and file a lien against the vessel and owner.

 

[Mike Fox]

The use of the "Lloyds Open Form Agreement" is often used in these instances. Plenty on Google, but try http://web.uct.ac.za/depts/shiplaw/fulltext/lof2000.pdf

 

The way it can work in practice is to arrange to have the coastguard overhear an agreement for a commercial tow between the two vessels to a safe place (another benefit of VHF over mobile phone). This is then recorded automatically. If a price to get you back into a safe berth is agreed, then salvage to the value of your boat cannot be claimed.

 

I believe that salvage can also NOT be claimed when in harbour, and when there is no actual risk/danger to the rescuing party.

 

I'm not a lawyer, and marine law in notoriously tricky, but if I were ever in these circumstances, I would ask the Coastguard for advice at the time - stating the urgency, the immediacy of any dangers, the ability to control the situation (e.g. anchoring to avoid drifting into rocks), etc. Easily said, but difficult to remember when the brown stuff hits the whirly thing.

 

Mike