Environmental Salvage and the 1989 Salvage Convention: Proposed Amendments to the Convention and Difficulties in Quantifying an Environmental Salvage Award

The International Salvage Union (ISU) has proposed that the 1989 Salvage Convention be amended to allow for an ‘environmental salvage’ award. A traditional salvage award remains fundamentally about saving maritime property, whereas an environmental salvage award measures its success against liabilities avoided. In practical terms, these two types of awards cannot be quantified using the same principles. In its current form, the Salvage Convention does provide for a salvage award to be enhanced for efforts to prevent or minimise environmental damage as set out in Article 13. The ‘safety net’ provisions of Article 14 allow salvors special compensation where no property is saved but efforts to protect the environment are undertaken. As Article 14 is largely unworkable, it has effectively been replaced by the Special Compensation P&I Clause (SCOPIC) where Lloyd's Open Form contracts are used. This article looks at the proposed amendments by the ISU to the Salvage Convention and discusses the difficulties in quantifying an environmental salvage award.