(6) The time and labor occupied.
(7) The degree of success achieved, and the proportions of value lost and saved.
Work of this nature is often performed by contract, by vessels and corporations equipped and organized for the purpose. This fact does not militate against their claims as salvors in proper cases but the courts will not hesitate to modify the contract if they consider it unjust. The case of the Leamington, 86 Fed. 675, contains a note giving many instances of amounts awarded under various circumstances.[25]
As a general thing salvage is not allowed in an amount exceeding 50 per cent of the value of the thing salved, although there are cases where as high as 75 per cent has been allowed. There was an old rule, "50 per cent for a derelict." This rule has been departed from in many cases. The amount to be awarded lies largely in the sound discretion of the trial court which takes into consideration all of the elements of labor, risk, value, time, expense, and any other features that may enter into the case. It is practically impossible to lay down rules for determining the amount to be awarded. The books, however, say that the award should not be so great that the salvage service becomes of no use to the owner of the thing salved. For example if the charges and expenses of the owner come to 50 per cent of the value of the thing salved, an award of 50 per cent will not be made to the salvors, no matter how perilous, arduous and meritorious their work may have been to the owners. Sometimes the award when computed on percentage of the value of the salved property is very small, in some cases only about 4 per cent. These are cases where the service performed was not extensive or highly meritorious and the salvage property was of large value, so that the amount of money received by the salvors was considerable, though the percentage was small. The amount awarded to salvors is not always calculated on the basis of a percentage or proportion of the value salved; in many cases the trial court fixes a flat figure which it thinks the service worth.
5. Who May Be Salvors.—
Generally, any one not under obligation to render the service, may rank as a salvor, and, conversely, those obliged to work, cannot claim any reward. Sailors on the ship in peril cannot be salvors until released from their engagement or an abandonment of the ship. A passenger cannot earn salvage by mere labor on a vessel in peril, for this is his duty, yet for extraordinary services he may have a salvage award. Such was the case of the Great Eastern when she had been disabled by a gale and was lying helpless in the trough of the sea. Among the passengers was a civil engineer who ingeniously devised and after twenty-four hours' labor carried out a plan for steering her so that she was able to make port. The court awarded him about $15,000. So, in the Fair American, captured by a French privateer and in charge of a prize-crew, her cook succeeded in recapturing and bringing her into port by exertions outside his line of duty, and ranked as a salvor accordingly.
A pilot acting within the line of his duty, however he may entitle himself to extraordinary pilotage compensation as distinct from ordinary pilotage for ordinary services, cannot be entitled to claim salvage, but a pilot is not disabled from becoming a salvor if he performs salvage services outside the scope of his duties. He stands in the same relation to the property as any other salvor (Hobart et al. v. Drogan, 10 Peters 108).
6. Distinction Between Towage and Salvage.—
Cases have frequently arisen in which a vessel that has towed another into a place of safety has claimed salvage for so doing. Whether or not the service rendered amounts to salvage and entitles the towing vessel to a salvage reward, or is mere towage to be recompensed as such, is sometimes difficult to determine. There is no fixed guide. In the J. C. Pfluger, 109 Fed. 93, the Court said:
If the vessel towed was by this means aided in escaping from a present or prospective danger, the service will be regarded as one of salvage, and the towage as merely an incident. If, upon the other hand, the vessel thus assisted was not encompassed by any immediate or probable future peril, such service will be treated as one of towage merely, and compensated as such. It was said by Dr. Lushington (The Charlotte, 3 W. Rob. Adm. 68) that, in order to constitute a salvage service, it is "not necessary that the distress should be actual or immediate, or the danger imminent and absolute; it is sufficient if, at the time the assistance is rendered, the ship has encountered any damage or misfortune which might possibly expose her to destruction if the service were not rendered." In McConochie v. Kerr (D. C. 9 Fed. 50), Judge Brown, in pointing out the distinction between a salvage and towage service, said: