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ΠΑΓΚΥΠΡΙΟΣ ΔΙΚΗΓΟΡΙΚΟΣ ΣΥΛΛΟΓΟΣ
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(1981) 1 CLR 318
1981 July 13
[A. LOIZOU, J.]
CYPRUS PORTS AUTHORITY,
Plaintiffs,
v.
THE SHIP "ZENOBIA", AND HER CARGO ON BOARD.
Defendants.
(Admiralty Action No. 163/80).
Admiralty—Salvage—Sunk vessel—Salving or refloating—Subject to terms safeguarding rights of persons who had previously rendered salvage services to the vessel—Whether salvage has priority over an earlier salvage.
The applicants as owners of the defendant ship which sank on or about the 7th June, 1980, within the port area of Larnaca, sought an order of the Court allowing them to " take all and any necessary action for the salvage and/or refloating of the said ship". The application was opposed by the plaintiffs in this action and by the plaintiffs in Action No. 92/81 whose claim was for remuneration for salvage services rendered by them to the ship and her cargo. The purpose of their objection was the imposition of a number of conditions by the Court in granting the application, so that their rights, if any, and the liabilities that may be incurred, especially by the plaintiffs in this action, as a result of the salvage and/or refloating operations, will be met by the applicants.
According to the terms agreed between the owners of the defendant ship and the salvors the maximum remuneration that the salvors will be entitled to receive for the salving and or refloating was 55% of the salved value of the ship.
Held, that considering the value of the defendant ship, there will obviously remain an amount for the two respondents to recover that may be awarded to them in respect of their salvage claims, inasmuch as in the order of priorities, salvage has priority over an earlier salvage if distinct and on a different [*319] occasion (see, inter alia, British Shipping Laws, Admiralty Practice, paragraph. 1574, p. 743) ; accordingly the application will be granted on the conditions, inter alia, that the salvage and/or refloating operations be carried out under the supervision of the Marshal of this Court, that they will be done at the salvors' and/or owners' risks jointly and severally and that the total remuneration and expenses of the persons that will undertake to carry out the salvage and/or refloating operations will not exceed in all 55% of her salved value (pp. 320-21 post).
Application granted.
Cases referred to :
The Veritas [1901] P.304 ;
The Russland [1924] P.55.
Application.
Application by the owners of the defendant ship "Zenobia" for an order of the Court allowing them to take all and any necessary action for the salvage and/or refloating of the said ship.
G. Michaelides, for the applicants-defendants.
P. Ioannides, for the respondents-plaintiffs.
Fr. Saveriades, for the respondents-plaintiffs in Action No. 92/81.
A. LOIZOU J. gave the following judgment. By the present application the applicants who are the owners of the defendant ship which sank on or about the 7th June, 1980, and now lies on the seabed within the port area of Larnaca, seek an order of the Court allowing them "to take all and any necessary action for the salvage and/or refloating of the said ship". They further pray for any other order as the Court may consider proper under the circumstances.
The defendant ship has been under arrest by virtue of an order of this Court issued on the 4th June, 1980, on the application of the plaintiffs in this action.
The present application has been opposed (a) By the plaintiffs in this action, The Cyprus Ports Authority, whose claim is for remuneration for salvage services rendered by them to her and her cargo on or about the 2nd June, 1980, and (b) By the plaintiffs in Action No. 92/81 who have entered a caveat in the present case and whose claim is also for remuneration for salvage services rendered by one of the pilots of Larnaca Port and the Master and the crew of one of the two tugs involved in the aforesaid salvage operation.
The two respondents, in fact, do not object to the granting of the order; what they are asking is that a number of conditions be imposed by the Court in granting same, so that their rights, if any, and the liabilities that may be incurred, especially by the plaintiffs in Action No. 103/80, The Cyprus Port Authority, as a result of the salvage and/or refloating operations, will be met by the applicants. In so far as their respective claims are concerned, it has been made clear by the supplementary affidavit filed on behalf of the applicants, that according to the terms agreed between the owners of the defendant ship and the salvors, the maximum remuneration that the salvors will be entitled to receive is 55% of the salved value which fact was communicated by the applicants-owners to the respondent Authority by telex dated 5.5.1981. Considering the value of the defendant ship, there will obviously remain an amount for the two respondents to recover that may be awarded to them in respect of their salvage claims, inasmuch as in the order of priorities, salvage has priority over an earlier salvage if distinct and on a different occasion; in support of this proposition reference may be made to The British Shipping Laws, Admiralty Practice, para. 1574, at p. 743, and the cases of The Veritas [1901] P. 304, and The Russland [1924] P. 55.
With regard to the liabilities of the respondent Port Authority that may be incurred on account of the operations to be undertaken by the applicants, which naturally involve risks, some provision has to be made for the existence of ready cash over and above the value of the res that may in law be found liable for the compensation to which such respondents may be found in law to be entitled to.
In the circumstances, I grant the application on the following terms:
(a) That the salvage and/or refloating operations be carried out under the supervision of the Marshal of this Court.
(b) That the salvage and/or refloating operations will be done at the salvors' and or owners' risks jointly and severally in accordance with the accepted standards [*321] of work and subject to the laws and regulations of Cyprus pertaining to the matter, and that the owners and/or salvors will indemnify the respondent Authority for any damage which it may suffer as a result of such operations, which will be done in such diligent manner as to avoid any damage to the respondent Authority and to the property of third parties to whom the Authority may be answerable in damages for any damage that may be caused to them as a result of these operations.
(c) That the applicants give a Bank Guarantee in favour of the Port Authority for the sum of C£100,000.— (one hundred thousand Cyprus pounds) answerable for any damage and any liability that the respondent Authority may suffer or incur as a result of these operations, without this meaning that their claim, if any, will be limited to the amount of this Bank Guarantee.
(d) That the total remuneration and expenses of the person or persons that will undertake to carry out the salvage and/or refloating operations of the defendant ship will not exceed in all 55% of her salved value and that no such operation will be undertaken by anyone unless the contents of this order are brought to his or their knowledge and they undertake to abide by its terms and by undertaking the operations in question they will be considered as consenting to be bound by them.
In the result, order is made accordingly with costs in cause.
Application granted.
Costs in cause.