Meaning and Types of Marine Salvage
Marine salvage refers to all processes involved in taking a ship off the water after encountering an accident. For example, salvaging a vessel might involve recovering cargo from the vessel and ocean towage. Ocean towage means moving a wrecked vessel from the wreckage site using a towboat or a tug. There are several types of marine salvages depending on the location and extent of the wreckage.
Salvage efforts sometimes involve guarding the maritime environment against contamination by cargoes like oil or other toxins. As a result, most salvage efforts are entrusted to trained and qualified engineers and experienced sailors who operate as professional salvagers.
Salvaging a ship from a harbor is known as harbor salvage. Because harbors are quite shallow and have calmer waters and gentler currents compared to the open sea, harbor salvages are less challenging than other types.
Harbor salvage may be particularly urgent since wrecked or damaged ships, and their cargo can pose significant risks to other ships trying to enter the harbor. In addition, the availability of human resources or material resources like barges, cranes, dredges, and construction tenders can accelerate the execution of harbor salvages.
On the other hand, a sunken vessel in the open sea is salvaged in whole or part with shipwreck salvages. However, the process might take a few months since unseasonal tides and bad weather make it challenging to work. Therefore, in addition to experienced and skilled salvors, rescue tugs, vessels, and mobile diving equipment are usually deployed to execute shipwreck salvages.
Offshore salvors engage in some of the most arduous salvage operations, like the world-record recovery of a wrecked Seahawk helicopter’s fuselage from a depth of 5,814 meters in 2021. Unfortunately, due to the challenging nature of this type of salvage, salvors might be exposed to maritime hazards like drowning, burns, or physical trauma from falling objects.
Another essential type of salvage is equipment salvage. The priority of equipment salvage is to rescue big machinery parts such as engines, turbines, and propulsion systems.
On the other hand, Clearance salvage focuses on getting rid of the ship or its cargo to make room for other ships or safeguard the environment. Clearance salvage is executed in the wake of disasters like storms, tsunamis, and conflicts. As toxic cargo can endanger the marine ecosystem, recovering it is more crucial than recovering the ship itself.
Finally, afloat salvage takes place when a ship is wrecked but is afloat. Even though the process requires hull welding, repositioning cargo, and structural bracing, it is not as challenging as clearance or shipwreck salvage. Hull welding involves welding two metals together using heat, pressure, and a filler. At the same time, structural bracing helps the vessel to withstand lateral pressure that might cause the ship to wobble or topple during the salvage process.
The vessel can withstand pressure better and sustain less damage when the salvors adopt quality structural bracing. Cargo repositioning involves adjusting or repositioning the cargo in such a way that it does not impede the salvage operation.
