Scottish Court of Session Decisions

Lord President—I am clearly of opinion along with the Lord Ordinary that the services rendered by the “Vulcan” to the “Berlin” are to be considered as of the nature of salvage, and not merely of towage. That being so, the only question which is to be determined is, the amount which is to be paid for these services. The “Berlin” is a vessel of 423 tons register, and her engines are of 90 horse power. At the time of the accident she was worth about £10,000, and had on board a general cargo valued at £11,205, the freight upon which was £275, in addition to which she was carrying seventy-eight passengers, whose passage-money amounted to £87, 1s. 6d. This vessel so loaded was discovered by the “Vulcan” in a disabled condition in the North Sea, about 80 miles from the English and 250 miles from the Norwegian coast. When discovered the “Berlin” was on a voyage from Hamburg to Leith, and she seems to have performed the greater part of her journey before the accident in question, namely, the breaking of her propeller shaft, occurred.

From one point of view the weather was certainly very favourable, for it seems to have been a dead calm when the “Vulcan” came up, but it was just that calm which rendered it impossible for the “Berlin” to make way in any direction. It is maintained on the one side that the “Berlin” was in very great peril, because with sails such as she had, and her propeller jammed, it was impossible for her to reach her destination, or indeed any port, as she was unable to make any headway.

The owners of the “Berlin,” on the other hand, say that she was not in so desperate a condition—that she could make headway sufficient to answer to her helm, and that if the weather had continued good she could have reached the port of her destination or gained some harbour on the English coast. It is impossible to deny that the “Berlin” was in considerable peril merely because there was no existing cause to produce immediate destruction or damage. She was at the mercy of the winds and waves, and on that account I think that when the “Vulcan” came to her assistance she performed salvage service in the proper sense of the word, which service falls to be estimated in the usual way. The value of the ship and its contents, its cargo and passengers, was considerable; but it is to be observed that the vessel was not of the largest size, and this must be taken into account, in fixing the amount to be paid for the assistance which was afforded to her. The services rendered were no doubt prompt and efficacious, but they were so rendered at no great labour, danger, or exposure to the saloons. The “Vulcan” was on a voyage from Middlesborough to Flensburg, and while so engaged she came upon this disabled vessel, so that we have not in the present case the incurring of any special risk on the part of the salving ship, nor any departure from her ordinary course, or the incurring of any danger from storms or otherwise in carrying assistance to the “Berlin.” The only risk that was run was that of the hawser breaking—a risk which always arises when a vessel which has not been built for the purpose, takes another in tow. But the time occupied by the salving vessel is an important, and perhaps the most important, element in the case, for the labour and skill required to bring the vessel into port seem not to have been very great; but I am far from saying that she did not do her best to bring the “Berlin” speedily into port. Now, the value of the time occupied by the “Vulcan” in assisting the “Berlin” may be arrived at in this way. Taken at its utmost, the time lost by the salving ship through rendering assistance to the “Berlin” was seven days. Now, what is the value of this period to the owners of the “Vulcan?” The freight she was to earn for her voyage from Middlesborough to Flensburg was £252, and the time occupied on the voyage was three and a-half days. Now, if we allow a reasonable time for loading and unloading, we find that eight days in all would be taken up in earning that amount, which on an average gives £31, 10s. per day. That sum multiplied by 7, the number of days occupied in accomplishing the salvage, gives us about £220, a little less than half the amount allowed by the Lord Ordinary. Now, this is the utmost that the owners can expect, and the question comes to be, whether the remainder of the sum awarded is a sufficient remuneration for the services of the master and crew? Now, looking to the small amount of labour and skill required, I think that the amount fixed by the Lord Ordinary is in the circumstances fair and reasonable, but even if I might have been disposed to have given a larger amount, supposing the case to have come before us in the first instance, I should be very unwilling to disturb the Lord Ordinary's interlocutor unless the sum which he had fixed was in my opinion entirely disproportionate to the

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