Horizons Salvage entitlement, or Lifeboat rules?

[TapkaJohnD]

Here's an interesting development, documented in the latest news letter.

An explorer, Cmdr.Felix Macedonica, is stranded far from any station by lack of germanium.
Another, Cmdr. Chiggy Vonrictofen, hearing of his plight, travels a great distance towards him, in the hope that he can mine germanium locally.
He does, and both return safely.
Newsletter 150 features this heartening story. But I reckon that Cmdr.Vonricthofen has a significant claim for salvage on Cmdr.Macedonica's craft.

No doubt the old International Marine Organisation's policies will have been updated for modern spaceflight, and the legal situation set out in the International Convention on Salvage, 1989 (Old Calendar) http://www.jus.uio.no/lm/imo.salvage.convention.1989/doc.html will remain the same in the Galactic Convention, 2644, which I regret I have not had the opportunity to read.

That sets out that another spacecraft is considered "salvage" when:
1/ the assisted craft is reasonably believed to be in peril
2/ the assistance is voluntary
3/ it is successful

The salvor may not keep the salvaged craft, but is entitled to a generous reward that depends on:
1/ the value of the rescued craft
2/ the skill and initiative of the salvor.
3/ The relative success -in this case, complete.
4/ The danger the salvor faced in the salvage.
5/ The salvor's labor and expences
6/ the risk to the salvor
7/ how prompt they were
8/ the value of the salvor's craft and any equipment put at risk

The criteria for a salvage situation are fully complied with. Cmdr. Macedonica faced total loss, and the journey to rescue him, the enterprise of Cmdr.Vonrictofen in seeking to obtain the necessary supplies locally, rather that obtaining them commercially before he went, saving time so that the rescue could be prompt, were great. It is the task of a Salvage Board to determine the amount that the salvor should receive, up to the value of the salvaged craft. In the opinion of many space lawyers, that reward may be as high as 90%, only being less than the whole value because Cmdr.Macedonica stayed aboard and did not abandon ship.

The Lifeboat Rules say that a crew may demand salvage, but are then treated by the Galactic Life Boat Institute as independant agents, who owe the GLBI for the hire of the lifeboat, and any damage or use of resources on board. IT is most unusual for this to be invoked, but a donation to the GLBI is expeced from the rescued. Which is worth rememebering by all spacefarers, who should donate, even if they don't have to.

Heroism merits its own reward in fame, but salvage needs a harder currency. Will the Elite Dangerous Team appoint a Salvage Board for Cmdr.Vonrictofen?

Cmdr.John

 

[rrobes]

It has been suggested before for FD to reconsider salvage/recovery options. I believe that the only change they have made is to legalize the recovery of lifepods.

It would be nice if you could recover items that are adrift in space as legal salvage and receive a percentage of the value as a fee for the recovery, or as illegal for black market with a better return for the risk.

That being said, FD is certainly busy with other aspects of the game that need more immediate attention, so I'm afraid these types of changes will not get much traction.

 

[thirstyfish]

Generally, salvage of a still functioning and occupied ship is not kosher. The USCG does not require salvage rights from those they rescue, most tow truck companies don't require salvage rights, and other real-life examples. However, a wrecked ship (inoperable and/or unoccupied) would be fair game. Recovery of life pods technically would qualify as rescuing an individual. In real-life terms, would you expect salvage rights from someone in a life raft? No, you would not.

Back to ED, I am a fuel rat, we do this sort of thing all the time. To my knowledge, practically none of us ask for any kind of compensation. If it is offered, we will sometimes accept, but we (generally) don't ask for and certainly don't require it. It isn't about the money, its about helping people.

To use the example cited by the OP, I would not consider Felix Macedonica's ship to be in peril, as the only reason he was unable to get to a station because of a lack of an item used for FSD boosts. Clearly his ship was still functioning, and there was most likely a route to get back to a station, but it just wouldn't have been convenient. A situation like that where a ship would be in peril would be if the stranded Cmdr went what is called Code Red (CR) by the Fuel Rats. CR is defined as the client being on emergency O2 (countdown timer is displayed). At this point, the ship has no fuel left in its tanks and therefore the commander has no options except for us. While an argument could be made for a ship that lacked the fuel to jump to a scoopable star or to a station would also be in peril, that is beside the point. Felix's ship was not in peril. It is quite clear that his ship would have had a fuel scoop, and as such would have only needed to find a scoopable star within his current range. At that point, he would be able to continue on his journey.