Salvage Rights and Rewards Act

Section 2 prohibits taking from the sea or from the shores or coasts merchandise or effects proceeding from a shipwreck, and prohibits proceeding to the salvage of the vessel, without the consent of the captain of the vessel or the person acting in his stead when the captain (or substitute) is present.
Section 2 treats the captain’s presence as the trigger for the consent requirement governing salvage and removals of wreck-related merchandise or effects.

Section 3 requires persons who save or pick up a vessel or merchandise at sea in the absence of the captain, owner, or a representative of either (they being unknown) to convey and deliver the vessel or merchandise as soon as possible to the proper public authority.
Section 3 requires delivery to the collector of customs if the port has a collector.
Section 3 requires delivery to the provincial treasurer or municipal president if the port has no collector.
Section 3 establishes the duty as a condition linked to lawful handling of salvaged vessel or merchandise when no responsible representative is available.

Section 4 gives the owner or the owner’s representative the right to delivery of the vessel or things saved after salvage is accomplished.
Section 4 requires the owner or representative to pay or provide a bond to secure payment of the expenses and the proper reward before delivery is made.
Section 4 authorizes the collector of customs or the judge of Court of First Instance to determine the amount and sufficiency of the bond when there is no agreement.
Section 4 conditions delivery on securing expenses and the proper reward.

Section 5 requires the collector of customs, provincial treasurer, or municipal president—whom salvage is reported to—to order specific actions.
Section 5(a) requires safeguarding and inventorying the things saved.
Section 5(b) authorizes sale at public auction of things saved that are in danger of immediate loss or whose conservation is evidently prejudicial to the interests of the owner, when no objection is made to such sale.
Section 5(c) requires advertisement within the thirty days subsequent to the salvage in a local newspaper or the nearest newspaper published, stating all details of the disaster and including a statement of the marks and number of the effects, requesting all interested persons to make their claims.

Section 6 requires authorities holding the salvaged vessel or things to order delivery to the owner or representative upon claim, if there is no controversy over value and a bond is given by the owner or representative to secure payment of the expenses and the proper reward.
Section 6 prohibits delivery when there is controversy over value until the matter is decided by the Court of First Instance of the province where the things saved may be found.

Section 7 provides that if no claim is presented in the three months following the publication required under Section 5(c), the things saved must be sold at public auction.
Section 7 directs that after deducting expenses and the proper reward, the proceeds be deposited in the Insular Treasury.
Section 7 provides that if three years pass without anyone claiming the deposit, one-half of the deposit is adjudged to him who saved the things, and the other half is adjudged to the Insular Government.

Section 8 denies any right to a reward for salvage or assistance to the crew of the vessel shipwrecked or which was in danger of shipwreck.
Section 8 denies any right to a reward for salvage or assistance to a person who commenced salvage in spite of opposition of the captain or the captain’s representative.
Section 8 denies any right to a reward for salvage or assistance to a person who failed to comply with Section 3.

Section 9 provides that if, during the danger, an agreement is entered into concerning the amount of the reward for salvage or assistance, its validity may be impugned because it is excessive.
Section 9 authorizes requiring the excessive reward to be reduced to an amount proportionate to the circumstances.

Section 10 requires the Court of First Instance of the province where the things salvaged are found to fix the reward in cases covered by Section 9 and also where there is no agreement.
Section 10 mandates consideration of expenditures to recover or save the vessel or cargo or both.
Section 10 mandates consideration of zeal demonstrated and the time employed.
Section 10 mandates consideration of services rendered, excessive expenses occasioned, the number of persons who aided, and the danger to which those persons and their vessels were exposed.
Section 10 mandates consideration of dangers that menaced the things recovered or salvaged and the value of the things after deducting expenses.

Section 11 requires deductions from the proceeds of sale in a specific order.
Section 11 first deducts expenses of custody, conservation, advertisement, and auction, as well as whatever taxes or duties are payable for their entrance.
Section 11 then deducts the expenses of salvage.
Section 11 provides that from the remaining net amount, the reward is taken, and the reward shall not exceed fifty per cent of such remaining amount.

Section 12 requires dividing the reward among different persons who intervened in salvage or assistance in proportion to the services each rendered.
Section 12 requires equal parts division when there is doubt.
Section 12 grants participation in the reward to persons who, in order to save persons, were exposed to the same dangers.

Section 13 requires dividing the reward for salvage or assistance between the owner, the captain, and the remainder of the crew of the latter vessel when a vessel entirely or partially assists or saves another vessel or its cargo.
Section 13 fixes the division by proportions: the owner receives a half, the captain receives a fourth, and the remainder of the crew receives the other fourth.
Section 13 requires the remainder-of-crew share to be distributed in proportion to their respective salaries in the absence of an agreement to the contrary.
Section 13 states that salvage expenses and the reward for salvage or assistance are a charge on the things salvaged or their value.