The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has upheld, in part, an appeal concerning the value of a salvage reward involving a robotic submarine.
The SCA reduced a salvage reward of over R5 million, claimed by marine contractor Harry Dilley (Pty) Ltd, to R80 000, for the efforts of its charter boat in the salvage operation.
The matter involved De Beers Marine (Pty) Ltd, which owns an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), or robotic submarine, used to map the seabed in mining operations.
Court papers said De Beers had an agreement with Harry Dilley to charter a work boat, the Nkwaza, to assist it in conducting sea trials in False Bay, to commission new equipment installed on the AUV.
On October 27, 2017, the AUV was launched for the sea trials, but at about 1.30pm, De Beers was told it had been washed ashore on the rocks at the Lower North Battery near Simon’s Town.
Two commercial divers helped De Beers recover the AUV for R10000, while Nkwaza took up a position about 150m offshore.
One of the divers swam to craft with a rope, which he secured to it, and using a rigging sling, he attached himself to the submersible.
The Nkwaza towed the vessel with the diver to Simon’s Town harbour. The operation took about an hour.
Initially, the Western Cape High Court held that Harry Dilley had rendered voluntary services which exceeded what could reasonably be considered as due performance of the 2017 contract.
The court concluded that instead of a contract fee, Harry Dilley was entitled to a salvage reward.
The court fixed the reward at R5 525 288 – 10% of the replacement cost of the AUV in 2017 (R55 252 882).
However, while the SCA agreed that Harry Dilley was entitled to a salvage reward, it differed on the amount.
SCA Judge, Ashton Schippers found: “In this case the whole salvage operation took about an hour. Its success was mainly due to the efforts of the divers. By contrast, the Nkwaza, which is not a dedicated salvage vessel, was not really imperilled, given the distance that the boat maintained from the coast at all times.
“Harry Dilley is not a professional salvor, incurred no additional expenses, and did not use its salvage equipment in the operation. Looking at the case objectively, and having regard to the role of the court which is to take account of all the circumstances in assessing the award, a salvage reward of R80 000 is appropriate.”
Both De Beers and lawyers for Harry Dilley did not respond to requests for comment by deadline on Thursday.
Cape Times