5. Rights of Landowner.—
The owner of the shore on which a wreck is cast is not under any legal obligation to save it for the owner but he may take possession and protect it on the owner's account. If he does so, he will have a lien on the property for his expense and labor, at least, and may stand in the position of a salvor. If he does nothing himself, he may not resist the reasonable efforts of others to save the property for it is a very old rule of the common law, that an entry upon land to save goods which are in jeopardy of being lost or destroyed by water, fire or any like danger, is not a trespass, and this rule is applied to the rescue of ships cast ashore by the sea. At the same time, the owner of the shore will have a sufficient title to goods cast thereon to maintain an action for their value against third parties and salvors should be prompt in seeking the protection of the admiralty if their efforts are successful.