On 17 June 1998 the pleasure craft Sioux grounded on a sandbank in the Wadden Sea at the Malzwin, the northeastern fairway to Den Helder, after it unsuccessfully attempted to tow the motor yacht Dahcia from that sandbank. The tug Lies and a rigid inflatable of Rederij Waterweg sailed from Den Helder to the Sioux and the Dahcia and attempted in vain to tow them. The following day the Sioux refloated, but one of its two rudders appeared to have been damaged. The Sioux was subsequently towed by the Dreg III (also owned by Rederij Waterweg) to the port of Den Helder. Rederij Waterweg demanded a reward of NLG 12,500.

Held: When deciding that the Sioux had been in some danger, when the ship was on the sandbank as well as after it refloated the following day and wished to continue its way to Den Helder, the Court of Appeal did not misinterpret the notion of ‘danger’ as mentioned in art 552 of the Code of Commerce (based on art 1 of the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law respecting Assistance and Salvage at Sea 1910 (Salvage Convention 1910)). To that end the Court of Appeal considered that, even if the weather conditions were good and the Sioux had been lying flat on the sand, so that there was no immediate risk of capsizing, the risk that the Sioux could not refloat by its own means or that the Sioux, if it had refloated, would have grounded higher on the sandbank, was such that one could speak of a real threat of suffering damage and consequently of danger. In addition the Court of Appeal considered that the circumstance that the Sioux was incapable of proper navigation in the fairway, due to the defect in one of its rudders, carried weight to justify the conclusion that the Sioux had been in some danger.

When reasonably fixing the amount of remuneration for Rederij Waterweg pursuant to art 553 of the Code of Commerce (based on art 8 of the Salvage Convention 1910) the Court of Appeal was at liberty to base it on the costs of Rederij Waterweg for the activities in respect of the Sioux, and add another 25%.