Salvage laws on canals

[BODs SR2]

A boat has been unattended for at least 2 years and has drifted off its moorings several times, being re-moored by passers by and in general being a nuisance. It also was taking on water. A few weeks ago after strong winds it drifted within a stones throw of my back garden which backs onto the canal (with mooring rights). With the aid of a canal trust member I secured it on my mooring. There was already a foot of water inside. I went on hols for a week and returned to find it had sunk entirely. As it was secured against my mooring it was resting on the bottom. Most of it was flooded but the edges were out of water.

The canal trust were slow to react naturally as it was out of the way on my mooring. Promises of helping to re float it never materialized despite them visiting a few times with mixed messages about what had happened. After contacting them several times about finding the owner, a month later I still have no idea who it belongs to.

In the meantime I hired a pump for £15 and managed to re float it. In general it seems in good order and seems only to have taken on water through an extended period of neglect.

By all accounts it seems nobody is interested in the boat, least of all the canal trust. I am now thinking in terms whether I can take it on. Someone mentioned claiming salvage rights. I have proof that I was the one who recovered the boat. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I should proceed.

[Taslim]

Is there a licence number on it ether as a paper 'ticket' or painted on the cabin. If so why not contact CART and ask them what's what?

[b0atman]

wishing you all the best but will probably have to involve the police with lost and found

[Lady Muck]

You can't claim salvage rights on the canal, can you?

 

I know people who have found boats that were abandoned and successfully took them on, but there was a case last year where someone rescued and towed away a seemingly abandoned sinking boat, it turned out it did have an owner and the cops were called.

[Ex- Member]

I suppose there could be lots of possibilities, I might already be stolen who knows. Owner might have abandoned it, or could even be deceased. I think the suggestion of lost and found would be best, can you do that with a boat though? "unsure"

 

Might there be some clues in the boat, mail or paperwork etc?

[Grace and Favour]

r-harris - - if you telephone CRT, and give them the boat's registration number on the side/on a paper licence inside a window, they will definitely be able to track the owner.

 

At that point, (assuming the owner is contactable), you will be able to arrange either for the owner to come and collect from your mooring (and agree your recovery costs/mooring fees etc), or if non-contactable, you can contact your local police.

[Ex- Member]

r-harris - - if you telephone CRT, and give them the boat's registration number on the side/on a paper licence inside a window, they will definitely be able to track the owner.

 

At that point, (assuming the owner is contactable), you will be able to arrange either for the owner to come and collect from your mooring (and agree your recovery costs/mooring fees etc), or if non-contactable, you can contact your local police.

 

I would bet that if C&RT had that info on the owner they wouldn't be allowed to part with it (Data Protection). They could contact the owner though surely and inform them the boat's sunk.

[Lochalsh]

(Re: Grace & Favour).......Sounds like a very sensible and proper way to go about it.

Edited March 19, 2014 by Lochalsh

[BEngo]

It has an owner. Even if you salvage it still has an owner. Unless and until the owner transfers ownership to you it's not yours. If salvage law applies inland, and I doubt it does, then you may have a lien on the craft until the owner re-imburses the costs of salvage.

 

In the meanwhile, is the boat licenced? If not I would be careful that CRT don't come looking for you as the keeper to licence it!

 

Contact CRT with the number and ask them to contact the owner and tell them where it is and that it now owes you money. If that doesn't produce results try the Police lost and found. give them the number and tell them CRT can provide owner details etc.. If you report it found I think that after a period of time and it's not claimed the police will say it now belongs to you.

 

N

[LoneWolf]

.....

The canal trust were slow to react naturally as it was out of the way on my mooring. Promises of helping to re float it never materialized despite them visiting a few times with mixed messages about what had happened. After contacting them several times about finding the owner, a month later I still have no idea who it belongs to.

.....

 

 

Can you people not read? He has been in contact with the CaRT

 

I dont know about salvage rights but I would report it to the police as a 'found' item, tell them of your discussions with CaRT and the fact the CaRT should be able to contact the owner but dont or cant seem to be doing so

 

Then wait and see what happens

[NigelMoore]

Of course, you could ask CaRT to slap a s.8 on it, which is precisely what that legislation was designed for - enabling removal and disposition of vessels in circumstances where the owner cannot be traced. Offer your services as a cheap contractor for removal of the offending vessel, and after the statutory passage of time, when title vests in them [presuming the owner has abandoned it], get them to pass title to you as reimbursement for collection and storage.

 

If they can’t be bothered to play ball, and you believe that the owner has abandoned it, then do it up and enjoy the use of it for free, until they decide to s.8 it after all, whereupon you offer your services as aforesaid. They are unlikely to bother about a boat sunk out of the main navigation channel which is only a nuisance to you, but a boat happily using ‘their’ water for free is a different story.

[Lady Muck]

This is what happened when a friend of a friend took a boat on. We all knew the owner had gone abroad (to where he lives) for good, so it was a matter of waiting for the section 8

[OldGoat]

You could seek a writ of attachment IIRC under maritime law.

 

Surprisingly much of the Merchant Shipping Acts applies to the inland waterways.

[NigelMoore]

You could seek a writ of attachment IIRC under maritime law.

 

Surprisingly much of the Merchant Shipping Acts applies to the inland waterways.

 

That’s rather American isn’t it? UK law equivalent would be an arrest following the exercise of a lien on the vessel. But you would have to have some sound reason for exercising the lien in the first place.

 

Salvage gets complicated and drawn out –

 

http://www.dft.gov.uk/mca/mcga07-home/emergencyresponse/mcga-receiverofwreck/mcga-dops_row_salvage.htm

 

The MSA 1995 applies –

 

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1995/21/part/IX/chapter/1

 

Best use s.8!

[Bod]

Dump it on a water point, when it's section 8, express an interest.

 

Bod

[MtB]

But I might 'express an interest' too...

 

MtB

[Bod]

I'm certain you'd ask for 2nd refusal, a man of your calibre.

 

Bod

 

But I might 'express an interest' too...

 

MtB

[PaulG]

I'd try informing CRT that the sunken boat is an obstruction in the channel that prevents you from using your mooring.

(However I would I would not mention that it was you that moored it there in the first place!)

Hopefully they will then get it removed.

[BODs SR2]

Many thanks for all your suggestions. As a newbie to all this it seems I have a lot to learn about how the system operates.

 

As an update, the CRT have recently responded saying they are attempting to contact the owner and will be in touch to arrange access to the boat? They said, as mentioned, that they could not part with any owner info due to data protection.

 

If this drags on much longer though I will have a word with the police as suggested and see what they say.

 

If the owner does appear and wants the boat back I have no idea what costs I could rightfully claim and what would happen if they refused to pay.

 

If no owner can be found, I guess then that the next thing would be this 'S.8' I don't know what it is but I guess the CRT will be the point of contact. However if they don't go down this route then it's back to the police.

 

Until it's all sorted I can't use the boat due to insurance issues. Don't want to take any chances there.

 

Will keep you all updated. Thanks again.

[RLWP]

I suspect that the police won't be in the least bit interested

 

Richard

[Keeping Up]

I would suggest that if you charged a mooring fee of £25 per week this could only be regarded as extremely reasonable - and might encourage things to move a little faster.

[RLWP]

I would suggest that if you charged a mooring fee of £25 per week this could only be regarded as extremely reasonable - and might encourage things to move a little faster.

 

If he can sublet his mooring

 

I would hire the pump for £15 again, refloat it, move it to the other side and forget about it. The OP set out to help, not create aggravation for themselves. The 'problem' belongs to the boat owner and CRT

 

Alternatively, ask CRT to pass on an offer to the boat owner if you want to buy it. CRT are usually delighted to see these problems solved simply

 

Richard

Edited March 20, 2014 by RLWP

[carlt]

 

 

Alternatively, ask CRT to pass on an offer to the boat owner if you want to buy it. CRT are usually delighted to see these problems solved simply

 

I have acquired a couple of boats by taking a letter to BW and asking them to forward it to the owner.

[Delta9]

I don't think trying to charge them a mooring fee is reasonable at all, as it was the OP's choice to put the boat on their mooring.

[David Mack]

The MSA 1995 applies –

 

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1995/21/part/IX/chapter/1

Does it?

 

Clause 224 says

 

"(1) The provisions of the International Convention on Salvage, 1989 as set out in Part I of Schedule 11 (in this Chapter referred to as “the Salvage Convention”) shall have the force of law in the United Kingdom."

 

"(2)The provisions of Part II of that Schedule shall have effect in connection with the Salvage Convention, and subsection (1) above shall have effect subject to the provisions of that Part."

 

But look to Part II of Schedule 11, Clause 2:

 

"2(1)The provisions of the Convention do not apply—.

 

(a)to a salvage operation which takes place in inland waters of the United Kingdom and in which all the vessels involved are of inland navigation; and.

 

(b)to a salvage operation which takes place in inland waters of the United Kingdom and in which no vessel is involved..

 

(2)In this paragraph “inland waters” does not include any waters within the ebb and flow of the tide at ordinary spring tides or the waters of any dock which is directly or (by means of one or more other docks) indirectly, connected with such waters."

 

So it looks to me as if salvage does not apply to canals or non-tidal rivers.