Reassessment of the Marine Salvage Posture of the United States (1994) / Chapter Skim
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3 National Salvage Posture Issues
3 National Salvage Posture Issues
Pages 23-57
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From page 23... ...
This chapter analyzes these issues. They are: Salvage business conditions Decision making in salvage incidents National salvage policy Salvage human resources Rescue towing Marine firefighting Cargo transfer, including lightering Damage stability information Salvage in the presence of hazardous cargo Jettisoning Safe havens Salvage readiness of vessel and crew The contribution of the U.S.
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From page 24... ...
Commercial salvage transactions must be covered by a contract that is fair to all parties and ensures adequate rewards for the sernce provider. The "no cure, no pay" open form contract has been most common in the international salvage industry.
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From page 25... ...
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has stated, for example, that "exclusive devotion of a company's resources to salvage is not a condition precedent to recognition of a professional salvor's favored status," 3 and courts and arbitrators have just begun to recognize "part-time professional salvors" as "deserving of an increment due to their availability to persons in distress."4 But the salvage industry which cannot rely solely on salvage and must accept other work is nearly unanimous in its view that unless a contract specifies an amount, there is no assurance the award watt be adequate.
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From page 26... ...
In addition, a forthcoming International Salvage Union standard wreck removal contract changes the terms from fixed price, no cure no pay, to fixed price with payment for progress. Even with these changes, a perception exists that the traditional open form contracts, with award based on salved value, are inappropriate given that the measure of success is changing to emphasize environmental protection.
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From page 27... ...
The regime of retainers fostered by regulations arising from that law watt provide additional income for at least some segment of the salvage industry. But whether that revenue stream is sufficient to further improve the economic viability of the salvor and the marine salvage posture of the United States is not yet known.
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From page 28... ...
While this partnership was designed for incidents that threaten or actually produce pollution, the response to any major vessel casualty may be organized in the same manner. This organization, modified from the Incident Command System widely used in firefighting and adapted to marine casualties, is in direct contrast to the former decision-making process in which the salvage situation was negotiated solely between the salvor and the vessel owner, with the overriding concern the saving of the vessel and the cargo.
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From page 29... ...
The UCS is a developing concept, which watt change and evolve with experience. The mandate for the marine industry is to be involved in that process, and, to the extent that salvage is part of response planning, to get the salvage industry involved as well.
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From page 30... ...
Despite that recommendation, there has been no change in the national salvage policy in the last decade. Current Statutory Status of Salvage The current national salvage policy, as contained in the Salvage Facilities Act, may be summarized as follows: "The public interest is served by maintaining salvage capability to provide for the national defense, especially to ensure readiness for war mobilization" (NRC, 19821.
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From page 31... ...
Navy salvage contractors requested by the Coast Guard were on the scene within six hours in the latter incident and, as noted earlier, the Coast Guard strike team performed the cargo transfer and subsequent dewatering of the cargo tanks in concert with a salvage company. National Salvage Policy Considerations Since the 1982 NRC report was published, several trends have emerged that serve to reinforce its conclusions.
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From page 32... ...
~ . _ National salvage policy requirements have changed from those stated in the Salvage Facilities Act to include the following goals: protect the national security; minimize or prevent environmental impacts due to pollution from marine casualties; protect public safety; and ensure minimal disruption to the U.S.
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From page 33... ...
Implementation of any of these alternatives would have to address specific elements of salvage operations, such as rescue towing, firefighting, lightering, adequacy of training, minimum qualifications of salvage personnel, wreck removal, deepwater search and recovery, and harbor and channel clearing. Findings There is no clear, concise statement of national salvage policy that addresses the role of salvage in minimizing the public consequences of marine casualties.
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From page 34... ...
These companies were integrated, self-contained operations that owned large offshore salvage vessels and large stocks of specialized salvage equipment and employed dedicated salvage personnel. In the last decade, two of the companies that were active in 1982 have ceased to conduct salvage operations, and the transformation of the salvage industry, accelerated by OPA 90, is being shaped aggressively by new entrants.
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From page 35... ...
Obvious candidates for undertaking the task of developing cogent and acceptable standards are the Navy, given its experience and involvement in salvage, and the Coast Guard, which is often responsible for overseeing response to incidents in which marine salvage capability is exercised. The criteria could be used to identify active salvers for inclusion in contingency plans or to respond to public or private requests for recommendations concerning salvage companies.
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From page 36... ...
But due to the dispersion of personnel and the paucity of training opportunities, only a small number of the Navy trainees become seasoned salvors, and even fewer find their way into the commercial salvage industry. Although the availability of salvage personnel did not appear to be a problem at the time of the 1982 NRC report, the lack of on-the-job training opportunities and the declining numbers of Navy salvage trainees were noted.
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From page 37... ...
The result is that there are very few dedicated salvage tugs on station in the world today that operate without government subsidy (Milwee, 1993; Tecnitas, 19921. In the United States, rescue towing has been carried out by high-horsepower tugs normally engaged in the commercial practice of moving vessels in coastal trade or supporting the offshore oil and gas industry.
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From page 38... ...
The availability of rescue towing from Seattle, Washington, north to Alaska is a concern due to the remoteness of the area and the limited tug and barge activity. The only two U.S.-owned, dedicated salvage vessels are stationed on the West Coast, one in Astoria, Oregon, the other in Seattle, 38
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From page 39... ...
This idea derives from the regulatory consequences of OPA 90, which mandate substantial standby resources for pollution response in every significant coastline location of the United States. The availability of dedicated salvage vessels, placed strategically around the United States, to provide salvage support and rescue towing capability is the subject of considerable discussion.
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From page 40... ...
Traffic routing schemes and exclusionary zones may be used to minimize risk and prevent accidents, further reducing the need for rescue tugs. MARINE FIREFIGHTING Fighting fires aboard vessels is complex it is complicated by weather, vessel type, fire type, cargo type, accessibility, and damage stability.
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From page 41... ...
ports have dedicated fireboats, some of which are crewed and equipped to fight offshore fires. For example, in the recent Tampa, Florida, casualty, the local fireboat crew was trained by a specialist in marine firefighting, and they were able to control the fire with advice via radio from the marine firefighting specialist.
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From page 42... ...
Few companies specialize in marine firefighting in the United States, or, for that matter, in the world. They are supplemented by salvage companies that offer firefighting expertise as part of their overall package, and normally call in specialists for serious fires.
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From page 43... ...
Additional firefighting equipment is being deployed at coastal sites as a result of actions taken by salvage companies and the marine transportation industry to comply with salvage readiness regulations stemming from OPA 90. Gaps still exist in marine firefighting experience and capability in certain port areas with respect to equipment, particularly a lack of waterborne firefighting capability (fireboats or tugs with fire monitors)
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From page 44... ...
A major West Coast tanker owner described to the committee a plan to modify its vessels to enable the transfer of cargo to empty spaces or to segregated ballast tanks in the event of an emergency (StiehI, 19931. External Liquid Cargo Transfer The most commonly used technique for refloating a stranded ship is to lighten her by removing some of the cargo.
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From page 45... ...
Nonliquid Cargo Transfer From a salvage standpoint, nonliquid cargoes are in many ways more difficult to handle than liquid cargoes. In addition, there are significant concerns regarding the increasing volume and variety of hazardous cargoes (see Salvage in the Presence of Hazardous Cargo, page 481.
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From page 46... ...
DAMAGE STABILITY INFORMATION The development of personal computers and sophisticated software has added a very powerful weapon to the salvor's arsenal. Salvors once operated by the seat of their pants when deciding what they could or could not do in their efforts to stabilize or refloat a damaged ship, particularly with regard to the possible effects of an already damaged ship.
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From page 47... ...
In addition, OPA 90 requires that all tank vessels have on board or readily available information on damage stability and vessel construction. in The classification societies and the Coast Guard maintain vast databases of stability and construction data that is becoming available on a real-time basis for use in a marine casualty.
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From page 48... ...
This capability was developed through acquisition and is not the result of training or experience within the company, but it has allowed for the integration of salvors and specialized hazmat personnel in cross-training and cooperative salvage solutions. Handling and disposal of dangerous or hazardous cargoes requires not only personnel trained to identify and quantify the risk but also specialized equipment for handling and disposing of such cargo.
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From page 49... ...
Ultimately, the effectiveness of that presence wait depend on the quality of commercial salvage capabilities. There does not appear to be sufficient economic incentive for the salvage community to develop a comprehensive, self-suff~cient, total response capability for hazardous cargo casualties.
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From page 50... ...
3. All other salvage options, such as internal cargo transfer and lightering, have been exhausted or considered and rejected.
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From page 51... ...
. The UCS is an incident command partnership that ensures consultation and coordination among principal parties; in the case of marine casualties and potential jettison situations, the principal parties are the federal government acting through the on-scene coordinator; the state, acting through a predesignated representative; and the owner or other predesignated responsible individual.
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From page 52... ...
The safe havens issue is not unique to the United States. It was addressed in the International Salvage Convention of 1989: Article 11.
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From page 53... ...
This approach, which initially focused on the facilitation of rescue towing, is expanding to embrace other aspects of vessel readiness, such as transfer piping between cargo tanks and empty spaces in a tanker. A salvage friendly approach to vessel design and crew training can have a significant impact on the outcome of salvage operations.
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From page 54... ...
There is considerable history of salvage-friendly modifications to vessels, notably tankers. These alterations have been made primarily to facilitate rescue towing, but efforts are being expanded to include alteration of shipboard piping systems for the internal transfer of liquid cargo from damaged tanks.
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From page 55... ...
The 1992 International Salvage Industry Survey states that international salvage resources are in serious decline, leading to the disappearance of a number of long-established salvage companies. A primary cause of the decline is "fierce competition from nondedicated resources, aggravated by the search for Tow-cost dry and wet salvage services by shipowners, insurers, and P&l Clubs" (Tecnitas, 19921.
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From page 56... ...
Some of these assets are being phased out as the Navy alters its salvage mission following the end of the Cold War. Surplus assets, particularly the T-ATF class of ships, if operated by the private sector and strategically deployed, could go a long way to restoring the traditional salvage capability of the United States, particularly in rescue towing.
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From page 57... ...
plan could be implemented through the arrangements in place for Navy contracting for commercial salvage services. Nondiscretionary Congressional direction and a Tong-term source of funding would have to be obtained before this approach could be considered.
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