Vitally important salvors deserve wider recognition

The shipping industry struggles to achieve the wider recognition it deserves by its global importance and that means the vital salvage industry is hardly known outside the shipowner, marine insurance and legal communities. It is something of “niche within a niche”.

But it is a critical industry and rooted in London, also where the headquarters of The International Salvage Union (ISU), the global trade association which represents its members’ interests with stakeholders, is based. The ISU is proud of its official consultative status at IMO – and was heavily involved, for example, in the creation of both the Salvage Convention and the Wreck Removal Convention.

ISU also works with its partners on standard forms of contract such as the Lloyd’s Open Form and the BIMCO suite of wreck removal contracts. It shares best practise among its members and seeks to promote the value of the industry as well as engaging with media to be transparent about its activities and policies.

Members of the ISU come from every continent and has around 50 full members. While many of our members are based in Europe, we are proud to represent salvors from all around the world and we work hard to be global in our outlook and today our executive committee includes executives from Japan, Chile and Australia as well as the United States and Europe.

We also have around 75 associate members, typically those providing services to the main salvage contractors, and includes many London based law firms, insurers, marine consultants and brokers.
The best measure of the scale of the salvage industry is the ISU’s annual statistics. In 2023 gross income from all sources for ISU full members was US$ 398 million (all the salvors’ costs must come from the revenues reported). Income can be variable and that can make planning and investment decisions more difficult.

It is the key priority of the ISU that we ensure the industry remains adequately funded. The ISU position is that awards made under Article 13 of the Salvage Convention (as, for example, in the Lloyd’s Open Form contract) must remain at the cornerstone of the industry. This is to fund the investment in people, training and equipment that is required to continue to be able to provide professional services around the world.

We know that our key stakeholders recognise the importance of the salvage industry because they say so publicly and all of us agree that the industry needs to be sustainable economically. We ask that, when considering awards, owners and insurers celebrate the value preserved by our services and do not focus on the cost.

No ISU article is complete without recognising the contribution that the industry makes in protecting the marine environment. In many situations it is only the professional salvors that stand between a casualty and an environmental catastrophe. Typically, our members provide services each year to vessels carrying more than one and half million tonnes of potential pollutants. In an era where, rightly, one tonne of bunkers over the side is unacceptable, this is a huge contribution to environmental protection, to say nothing of the huge costs and reputational damage that might otherwise be incurred.

In concluding, I think we can be very proud of our industry and the services that it provides and I never find it difficult to make the case for the professional salvor.