The subject of salvage and towing has been discussed quite a bit on the T&T
list, check the archives for lots of input. I know of one incident where
the Towboat US took the boat in tow and then told the owner he would be
making a salvage claim when he got to the dock. The insurance company took
over and finally settled to save all the legal fees.
My rule is I do not accept the towline from the towboat until I have
verified the rate for the tow and that it is not a salvage tow. If it is
such an emergency that I don't have time for that, then that will likely be
evidence that the tow was, indeed salvage. If the towboat refuses to tow
me based on a non-salvage rate and I am not in immediate or imminent
danger, then I would contact the insurance carrier prior to accepting the tow.
Tows in the open ocean can also be arranged and negotiated. But if you
don't have time to negotiate or are not in a position to negotiate, my
understanding is it is indeed salvage.
I have only had to do this arrange a tow once, so far. My power train
failed and I had dropped anchor in a high current river. The towboat
operator chuckled, but then said, yea I guess there are some money grubbers
out there that would have tried to make a salvage claim on the tow. In
this case my agreement was verbal and I was a bit uncomfortable with that,
but using written documents seems unlikely to be passing back and forth
between boats. I had the conversation on the VHF and would have to hope
the CG caught it on tape if there was a disagreement, later.
What procedure's have our more experienced listee's put together?
-Wray
Wray West
M/V Anjumal (Cape Horn 65)
Portsmouth, NH
www.anjumal.com
The subject of salvage and towing has been discussed quite a bit on the T&T
list, check the archives for lots of input. I know of one incident where
the Towboat US took the boat in tow and then told the owner he would be
making a salvage claim when he got to the dock. The insurance company took
over and finally settled to save all the legal fees.
My rule is I do not accept the towline from the towboat until I have
verified the rate for the tow and that it is not a salvage tow. If it is
such an emergency that I don't have time for that, then that will likely be
evidence that the tow was, indeed salvage. If the towboat refuses to tow
me based on a non-salvage rate and I am not in immediate or imminent
danger, then I would contact the insurance carrier prior to accepting the tow.
Tows in the open ocean can also be arranged and negotiated. But if you
don't have time to negotiate or are not in a position to negotiate, my
understanding is it is indeed salvage.
I have only had to do this arrange a tow once, so far. My power train
failed and I had dropped anchor in a high current river. The towboat
operator chuckled, but then said, yea I guess there are some money grubbers
out there that would have tried to make a salvage claim on the tow. In
this case my agreement was verbal and I was a bit uncomfortable with that,
but using written documents seems unlikely to be passing back and forth
between boats. I had the conversation on the VHF and would have to hope
the CG caught it on tape if there was a disagreement, later.
What procedure's have our more experienced listee's put together?
-Wray
Wray West
M/V Anjumal (Cape Horn 65)
Portsmouth, NH
www.anjumal.com
