Helipan Corp (the plaintiff) filed a lawsuit against Julie L SA (the defendant) for damages resulting from a breach of a contract of services. The defendant, as the owner of the MV Julie L, filed a counterclaim for remuneration for salvage performed by its vessel to a helicopter owned by the plaintiff which was used in maritime activities. The remuneration claimed was for USD 75,000.00. The Maritime Court applied the provisions related to salvage contained in arts 1490-1501 of the Code of Commerce (CCom), which mirror arts 1-11 and 14 of the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law respecting Assistance and Salvage at Sea 1910 (the Salvage Convention 1910).

The Court analysed art 1497 (art 8 of the Salvage Convention 1910), which states the aspects that a judge must consider when determining the amount of the remuneration for salvage. The Court considered that in this case the most relevant aspects were the danger to the helicopter and its value, finding that if it had not been rescued, the owners and insurers would have suffered serious damage. In addition, the Court stated that it is a fundamental obligation of the master, according to art 1500 CCom (art 11 of the Salvage Convention 1910), to render assistance to any person found on the sea in danger of being lost, even though it is an enemy, as long as it does not put into serious danger the master's ship, crew or passengers. As the pilot and the aviation technician were on board the rescued helicopter, the Court reduced the amount of the remuneration because there is no right for compensation for the rescue of human life (art 1498 CCom, art 9 of the Salvage Convention 1910). The remuneration was established at USD 18,250.00, which corresponded to 10 per cent of the helicopter’s value, according to the experts’ opinions. Both parties appealed the decision.

Held: The Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ), acting as Court of Maritime Appeals, affirmed the decision. The SCJ did not analyse the arguments of the appeals for procedural reasons.