Westar Marine Services et al. v. Heerema Marine Contractors S.A. et al. - District Court (Northern District of California) (Judge Lynch) - 18 November 1985

Contingent liability of salved vessel to third parties - Whether a relevant factor in making salvage award.

In the afternoon of 3 July 1984 a group of vessels moored in San Francisco Bay south of the Richmond_San Rafael Bridge dragged anchor and began to drift towards the bridge. The group included an oil drilling rig which was incapable of passing beneath the bridge except at low tide and partially submerged. In response to distress calls, the tug Polaris operated by the plaintiffs came to the assistance of the drifting flotilla. The Polaris initiated litigation to obtain a salvage award. The defendants moved the Court to clarify and limit the factors it might consider in making an award. Two questions arose namely whether the Brussels Convention on Salvage could apply where alien parties had been named but not served with process and whether the Court could consider the liability exposure of the salved property as a factor in determining the salvage award.