On 1 October 2020, an engine failure on board the yacht Babousha made the vessel unable to steer. At first, the Harbour Master of Salerno ordered the intervention of the cargo ship Valle di Siviglia, which started to tow the yacht. At a later time, by order of the same Harbour Master, the tug Francia took over the tow and towed the yacht to a safe port.

Rimorchiatori Salerno srl (the harbour's towage company) obtained an order of arrest against the yacht on an ex parte basis, as security for its salvage reward. The shipowner, Lira Marine Inc, applied to have the arrest lifted, arguing that, after the intervention of the Valle di Siviglia, the danger had ceased. As an alternative argument, the shipowner maintained that the salvage reward should be calculated on a unitary basis and then apportioned between the two salvors.

Held: In order to give rise to a salvage operation, the danger does not need to concern the loss of the ship itself. A situation of 'distress' is sufficient, when it exposes the ship to the risk of damage and creates a justified apprehension on the part of those on board, according to an ex ante assessment.

A ship is in danger when its engines have failed and its crew is unable to repair them. Such a dangerous situation persists, even after a first salvor has carried out towage, until, as a result of a second towage, the ship is safely moored in a port.

In order to qualify as a unitary salvage, with a consequent quantification of a single reward to then be shared among salvors, the salvage operations need to have no interruption of continuity; they need to be homogeneous; and the same dangerous situation must persist. Two consecutive stretches of towing one damaged ship shall therefore be qualified as a unitary salvage operation.

For a salvage operation consisting in towing a pleasure craft with broken engines, in good weather conditions, for a total duration of 7 hours and 45 minutes, a reward of EUR 210,000 (equal to 5% of the yacht's value) shall be paid.

The distribution of the reward among a plurality of salvors who carried out homogeneous activities can be made on the basis of the time spent by each of them.