clanchief Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 Fantastic scenes from Dorset with all the scranners down on the beach. Some officials made a statement that it is all motivated by greed. I disagree, it is just human nature to "rescue" what the sea has thrown up. The insurance companies are making no effort to rescue the stuff, so the stuff like motor bikes would soon be worthless one it was soaked by sea water. If this wreck had happened in Shetland, I am sure that we would have seen similar scenes. Indeed the scranning would be more professional with loads of quads & trailers taking the stuff away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trout Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 I was amused when the previous day the news had stated that the containers were full of toxic waste! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ally Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 Too right - Has nobody else watched Whiskey Galore? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArabiaTerra Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 It's been on the news this morning, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/6289371.stm, that the police are now threatening to arrest people caught 'salvaging' stuff from Branscombe beach in Devon as the stuff apparently belongs to the Receiver of Wrecks according to the Merchant Shipping Act 1995. Does this mean that the ancient Udal right in Shetland to keep anything found washed up below the High water mark is now illegal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trout Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 Indeed the police are right: Check out the Maritime and Coastguard Agency Website The key issue for salvors is that under UK law, all wrecked vessels are presumed to have an owner. This may be an individual, an insurance company or underwriters. Therefore, the first thing an intending salvor should do, is make every effort to trace the owner, with a view to obtaining his or her permission before recovering the hull, fittings or items of cargo. Intending salvors are also advised to notify the appropriate authorities before commencing salvage operations. In the case of the container ship the cargo thats been washed ashore can be traced back to it's owner, unlike most gaer washed ashore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fjool Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 As clanchief says though, if these people weren't rescuing the booty, it would soon be ruined. Seems a bit churlish to leave good stuff to become ruined when there are people who could benefit from it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Njugle Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 Too right! I could certainly benefit from a new beemer bike and would happily cast aside all shreds of dignity to save one from the tide. What those goodly people are doing is following a tradition that has run for centuries, anywhere with a coast. Good on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trout Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 Don't get me wrong, I'd be beating a path to the container ships had they landed close to me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clanchief Posted January 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 I mind the wife's faither saying that during the war they used to register with the customs any large pieces of wid that they had laid up. I think that this was due to the fact that the Forces had a habit of collecting up good pieces of wid that might be useful to them and if you challenged them, you had to have proof that you had found it first. I wonder when anyone in shetland last registered anything with the custome/receiver of wrecks? Come to think of it these old customs records would make interesting reading - I wonder if they are available? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Njugle Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 That would mkae excellent reading clanchief! A second hand anecdote that springs to mind; A ship that lost it's deck cargo of timber some years ago fell into the same categorisation as that in the recent story. A rapid free-for-all was soon quashed by the law. Best legend out of that story was the Yell(?) family who, upon hearing that the wood was being retrieved, worked night and day to have their new shed completed from the scranned timber before the C&E officers could make the ferry crossings to investigate. Genius! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trout Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 ^^ I remember a story along that lines too though that one detailed the rafters (was it??) of one of the halls somewhere in Yell? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Styles Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 In the past parts of the UK (mainly farming areas as fishing areas had more respect for other seafairers) they used to lure ships on to rocks with the use of lights bobbing up and down to make out they were an other ship. They didnt care about how this may endanger life and were just after the cargos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pleepsie Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 Read this in the paper this morning The law on salvage People who salvage goods from a wreck have common law right to a reward in return for their booty, unlike those who loot an overturned lorry on the highway Under maritime law, they are regarded as removing the wrecked goods for protection and safekeeping and are rewarded for that An individual who finds goods must make a report to the Receiver of Wreck within 28 days Under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 it is not a crime to recover jetsam (items washed up by the sea) but it is illegal to fail to declare it or refuse to surrender it when asked Anyone who does not return the goods after being asked to do so can be prosecuted and fined up to £2,500 £2500 seems cheap to have a new motorbike! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomblands Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 Read this in the paper this morning The law on salvage People who salvage goods from a wreck have common law right to a reward in return for their booty, unlike those who loot an overturned lorry on the highway Under maritime law, they are regarded as removing the wrecked goods for protection and safekeeping and are rewarded for that An individual who finds goods must make a report to the Receiver of Wreck within 28 days Under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 it is not a crime to recover jetsam (items washed up by the sea) but it is illegal to fail to declare it or refuse to surrender it when asked Anyone who does not return the goods after being asked to do so can be prosecuted and fined up to £2,500 £2500 seems cheap to have a new motorbike! Aye, but the article doesn't mention that the "salvager" may then be liable to pay the owner of the bike up to double the cost of the bike itself. That's on top of the £2500. Nasty. The Police don't actually have any power to arrest any of the salvagers as they have only committed a crime if they don't declare the goods that they have taken from the beach. All they can do is hand them the relevant forms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peeriebryan Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 Speaking of scranning, the skipper of the boat is Captain 'Skip Hawker' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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