Assistance by the Maxima and the No Limit, owned by Van der Wal, to aluminum motor yacht Velder 75, owned by Karsten, which was taking on water on the IJsselmeer. Four KNRM (Royal Dutch Lifeboat Association) boats also provided their assistance. Pumps from all vessels were brought onboard the yacht in order to pump water out of the engine room. After the engine room had been drained, the yacht was towed to Stavoren by the Maxima and the No Limit and taken out of the water after arrival as a precautionary measure. Karsten then signed a towage and salvage agreement presented by Van der Wal, which included a description of the activities performed. Van der Wal claims a salvage reward of EUR 70,000.

Held: The activities performed by Van der Wal must be seen a salvage operation, meaning any act or activity undertaken to assist a vessel or any other property in danger in navigable waters or in any other waters whatsoever (art 8:551 of the Dutch Civil Code (DCC) / art 1.a of the Salvage Convention 1989), for which a salvage reward is due if the salvage had a useful result, according to art 8:561 of the DCC (art 12 of the Salvage Convention 1989). There is ‘danger’ if there is a threat of loss or serious harm from which the ship cannot save itself by itself, without outside help (Hoge Raad (Supreme Court) 9 February 1996, Schip en Schade 1996/59, ‘Frio Alaska’ CMI141). The fact that the vessel had been taking on water and was still taking on water due to an – at that moment – unknown cause, is in itself sufficient to establish the existence of a real threat of increasing damage and therefore of danger. The ship had taken on water and there was a considerable amount of water in the engine room of the yacht.

The description of the activities in the agreement is in accordance with the statements of crew members of the Maxima and the No Limit. The contract states, inter alia, that pumps from both vessels were brought onboard the yacht and that pumping had started. The facts that Karsten thought that Van der Wal was just asking for his personal details when he filled in and signed the documents, that he did not want to agree with Van der Wal’s description of the events, and that he did not know what he was signing should be for his own risk and expense. It must be assumed that the description contained in the agreement was correct.

It is therefore held as a fact that, inter alia due to the use of Van der Wal’s pumps, the water level inside the yacht dropped. As the assistance had a useful result, Van der Wal performed a salvage operation under art 8:551 chapeau and (a) of the DCC (art 1.a of the Salvage Convention 1989); therefore a salvage reward is owed by Karsten to Van der Wal pursuant to art 8:561 of the DCC (art 12 of the Salvage Convention 1989).

As Van der Wal and Karsten did not agree upon an amount of the salvage reward, the reward will be determined by the court on the basis of art 8:563(1) of the DCC. Pursuant to art 8:563(2) of the DCC (art 13 of the Salvage Convention 1989), the salvage reward shall be fixed with a view to encouraging salvage operations, taking into account the criteria summed up in the article.

The saved value of the yacht is of importance to determine the upper limit of what is a reasonable salvage reward. Karsten has sold the ship for EUR 800,000 in the meantime. Since an exact valuation of the vessel at the time of the incident is not available, there is reason to presume a saved value of EUR 800,000 when determining the upper limit of what is a reasonable salvage reward. The circumstance that the ship, if it would have sunk in the IJsselmeer, would not be considered a total loss and would mainly have engine damage to the amount of EUR 100,000 must also be taken into account when determining a reasonable salvage reward.

When determining the amount of the salvage reward, the efforts of the crew of the Maxima and the No Limit to pump the yacht dry and to tow it to Stavoren must be taken into consideration. The fact that there were no human lives or other property to be saved must also be taken into account. Furthermore, the time used and costs incurred should also be considered. In that regard reference must be made to the contract, which stipulates the total duration of the salvage, from setting sail to returning at the station, to be approximately five hours. In addition, Van der Wal’s crew carried out pump work for about 15 minutes and towed the yacht to Stavoren. Furthermore, it must be taken into account that Van der Wal provided assistance with two rubber boats, which were fully equipped for salvage operations and were available to provide speedy relief.

All aforementioned circumstances considered lead to the conclusion that Van der Wal is entitled to a reasonable salvage reward of EUR 10,000.