About: ISU

The ISU has published its annual statistics for 2025. They are the only published measure of the state of the industry but do not include information from non-ISU members.  

• Gross revenue for ISU members – US$ 190 million (2024, US$ 406 million)  

• 166 services provided (2024, 191 services)  

• Lloyd’s Open Form (LOF) – 18 cases (2024, 29). LOF revenue US$ 50 million (2024, US$ 118 million)  

• Wreck removal income – US$ 46 million from 18 services (2024, US$ 205 million from 40 services)  

All numbers are gross income from which all the contractors’ costs must be paid. Numbers are for income in the year received not the year when the service was provided and there can be an element of “time lag”. ISU members have reported that the speed of settlement of large cases has slowed in recent years.    

The headline 2025 numbers show a dramatic fall in gross income – down by 53 per cent. This is due to a significant drop in wreck removal – both activity and income. In a typical year, wreck removal income and emergency response income are approximately equal for ISU members. But in 2025, wreck removal income was US$ 46 million from 18 services compared with US$ 205 million the previous year.  

Emergency response services generated US$ 144 million split between LOF at US$ 50 million and other contracts at US$ 93 million. 

ISU President, Leendert Muller commented: “This is a disappointing year for our members. The number of services provided is down but it is the great drop in wreck removal income that has dramatically reduced overall income levels.” 

“As commercial salvors we accept that our industry can have significant variability year-on-year but a drop of more than 50% will have a major impact on our members. The variability makes it hard to plan, and reduced income will affect investment decisions. All the key stakeholder – owners, property insurers and the P&I Clubs recognise that sustaining the salvage industry is essential for the safe and clean operation of the whole of shipping and these numbers are disappointing.” 

The 2025 ISU statistics show 18 LOF cases for ISU members – only just above the historic low of 16 LOFs in 2023. LOF income in 2025 was an average of 7 per cent of the salved value for each case. SCOPIC income was US$ 1.2 million which is historically low. 

Revenue in 2025 from operations conducted under contracts other than LOF was US$ 93 million. The average revenue from each non-LOF contract was US$ 720,000.  

The ISU statistics are collected from ISU members by a professional third party, which aggregates and analyses them. 

Today marks 30 years since the International Convention on Salvage came into force on 14 July 1996. The ISU takes this opportunity to celebrate the importance of this Convention which has had a huge impact on the industry, the marine environment and wider society.

The Convention enshrines in international law the ancient principle of “no cure, no pay”. It means that the salvor is encouraged to provide services to a vessel in danger at their own financial risk and will only be paid if the services are successful. The payment is based on a proportion of the value of the property saved and is fairly assessed against criteria set out in the Convention’s Article 13 and an amount to encourage salvors to continue investing in their response. capabilities or future casualties.

The Convention also introduced recognition for the salvor to prevent pollution by offering services even if there is only a slim chance of a successful operation to save the vessel. For example, by towing a stricken tanker away from an environmentally sensitive coastline. The mechanism was the Convention’s Article 14 concerning “special compensation”.

Over time this has been superseded by the SCOPIC regime – the Special Compensation P&I Club clause introduced in LOF 2000 – agreed between the ISU and the International Group of P&I Clubs recognising that the liability insurers are most exposed to the costs of potential environmental damage failing a salvage response.

Highlighting the anniversary ISU President, Leendert Muller, said: “ISU celebrates this important anniversary. The Convention sets in international law the “no cure, no pay” principle and the encouragement it offers has ensured the continued provision of vital salvage services that save lives, protect the environment and preserve the value of ships and their cargoes.

“The Convention addressed a gap in pollution prevention and paved the way for the SCOPIC regime which has been a force for good, ensuring that commercial salvors are compensated for being in the front line of environmental protection. The past three decades have seen members of the ISU perform thousands of services and we stand ready to serve shipowners and their insurers for the next 30 years and beyond.”

Chairman of the International Chamber of Shipping, John Denholm, also welcomed the anniversary: “Shipowners greatly value the availability of salvors around the world who can offer services should a vessel be in danger. The Salvage Convention has meant that salvage services are offered under a well understood and fair system.”

President of the International Union of Marine Insurance, Frédéric Denèfle, noted: “Since the Salvage Convention came into force the values at sea have increased hugely – it is possible today for there to be US$1 billion at risk on a single ship. The effective provision of emergency response under the Convention is the cornerstone to protecting the property we insure.”    

Chair of the International Group of P&I Clubs’ salvage committee, Ben Harris, also celebrated the anniversary: “Quick and effective provision of salvage services is vital to prevent a casualty situation deteriorating and potentially leading to a major liability incident. Marking this anniversary serves to remind the whole of the shipping industry of the importance of widely available and robust emergency response capability and how the Convention underpins this.”

ISU congratulates the International Maritime Organisation on the success of the Convention and pays tribute to all those who worked nearly 40 years ago to create the Convention and encourage its adoption by member states. The Convention has an enduring role in helping to keep seafarers safe; the seas clean and valuable property preserved.

14th July 2026

The Global Salvage and Wreck Forum 2026 will be on 9–10 December at the Tower Hotel in London. After a hugely successful inaugural event in 2025, industry leaders and experts will reunite to tackle the latest challenges in salvage, wreck removal, and risk management.

Here are some highlights from the 2025 Forum:

Register your interest to attend now at https://www.salvageandwreckforum.com/event/2026/about

The event is jointly hosted by the ISU, IGP&I and IUA of London.

For regular updates follow the LinkedIn page.

22nd May 2026

The ISU held its popular Members’ Day in central London. The event attracted 150 delegates.

ISU President, Leendert Muller, gave a welcome address (see text, back page) and the opening sequence of speakers features Frederic Denefle [NP1.1]President of IUMI, Jermey Grose, representing IG P&I and Theo Klimp President of the Royal Dutch Shipowners’ Association (KNVR) representing owners. They each gave their perspective on current issues and salvage and a common theme was the need for transparency and cooperation.

The International Maritime Organisation’s Deputy Director for Marine Environment, Patricia Charlebois, set out its priorities and issues and complimented the salvage industry for its work – noting, for example, the case of the FSO SAFER in the Red Sea.

Editor in Chief of Tradewinds, Julian Bray, was interviewed on stage by ISU Secretary General, James Herbert. While he was concerned about issues arising from the Iran war and the change to the established “rules-based order” he reminded delegates that, financially, shipping was enjoying a very positive period.

There were discussions about SCOPIC and Places of Refuge and a session on the way the navies in the US and the UK handle salvage differently and a full update on the current global sanctions regime. The conference programme finished with an exploration of new technology and a panel addressing AI and innovation in the context of encouraging young people to thrive in the industry.

The event concluded with a drinks reception in a spectacular setting looking out over the City of London skyline.

James Herbert said: “It was an excellent Members’ Day and we were pleased to have so many of our existing members with us and to meet representatives of our new members for the first time. Of course the content of the conference is important but bringing the whole industry together and having the opportunity for many side conversations is just as meaningful.”

30th March 2026

Members of the International Salvage Union (ISU) provided 231 services to vessels carrying nearly 3 million tonnes of potentially polluting cargo and fuel during operations in 2025.

Containerised cargo was up significantly at more than 1 million tonnes in ISU members’ services. The data come from the ISU’s Annual Pollution Prevention Survey for operations in 2025 which again demonstrates the vital role of professional salvors in protecting the marine environment.

President of the ISU, Leendert Muller, said: “ISU members are in most cases the only resource available to prevent a marine casualty from becoming an environmental disaster. This survey shows clearly how important our members are to the shipping industry but also to wider society. And we reduce the exposure of shipowners and their insurers to potentially huge costs and reputational damage.”
“Maintaining a professional salvage industry with the capability to deal with casualties and incidents wherever they occur is essential and needs to be properly funded. We are proud of the record which this survey confirms.”
There were 231 services in 2025 compared with 162 the previous year. A trend is for cases to get larger as classes of vessel increase in size, particularly containerships and also because of the amount of bunkers carried by the largest ships.

Each year there can be significant variations in the quantities of pollutants in each category. The number of containers in 2025 is notably higher than last year. Containers, after bulk cargo, remain the most significant category with ISU members providing services to vessels carrying 69,000 TEU amounting to just over 1 million tonnes of cargo. It compares with 506,000 tonnes of crude oil. It is now commonly accepted that containers carrying a great variety of harmful and dangerous goods including plastic pellets (nurdles) are one of the biggest threats to the marine environment.

Cargoes of refined oil products decreased in 2025 and there was very little chemical cargo recorded in the survey. Bulk cargoes in 2025 were 1.2 million tonnes. [See Editor’s note]. A number of the services in the survey did not record the quantity of bunkers or the cargo type meaning the reported numbers likely represent a more modest total than the reality.

2025 ISU Pollution Prevention Survey Results (tonnes) 

The 231 services in 2025 included 42 wreck removal/marine services contracts; 13 Lloyd’s Open Forms; 37 towage contracts; 15 Japanese Forms; 12 fixed price/lump sum, 31 day rate contracts; 53 other contracts (including commercial terms) and 28 Turkish Forms.

Leendert Muller concluded: “Many of these cases might have had real consequences and everyone in the shipping industry should ask the question ‘what if nothing had been done because no contractor was available’”.
ISU is transparent in noting that not all the potential pollutants were at immediate risk of going into the sea. Some cases will have had limited danger, but others will have carried a real risk of causing substantial environmental damage.

The survey was first conducted by ISU in 1994, and the methodology was updated in 2014 to include a wider range of potential pollutants including containers and hazardous and dirty bulk cargoes. In the period 1994 to end-2025, ISU members have provided services to casualty vessels carrying 48,790,081 tonnes of potential pollutants, an average of 1.5 million tonnes per year.

Editor’s note: The 2025 survey uses a new data collection form which includes all bulk cargo and does not separately identify hazardous/polluting bulk cargo.

19th March 2026

ISU President Leendert Muller gave one of the opening speeches at the new Global Salvage and Wreck Forum in London and reminded the delegates of the importance of a financially sustainable salvage industry. The conference was jointly organised by the ISU, International Underwriting Association, and International Group of P&I Clubs after the previous commercial producer withdrew. There was a “sell out” audience and the two days were a great success.

Andrew Chamberlain, partner at HFW, chaired the conference which had a varied programme examining current issues like Places of Refuge, and the role of coastal state authorities. There was a panel with ISU Salvage sub Committee chair, Eline Muller, addressing the role of cargo interests in salvage cases.
ISU member Smit’s managing director, Richard Janssen, gave a case study about the multiple issues encountered in the services provided to the ASL BAUHINIA. Rodrigo Bella, principal of Harbor Star (The Philippines); Naci Hoscan, deputy GM Salvage, Aras Salvage (Turkey) and Alexander Tsavliris from Tsavliris Salvage all gave presentations on cases and which demonstrated the wide capability of ISU members around the world.

The three organisers intended the event to be “for the industry, by the industry” with more realistic pricing aiming to cover costs only.

ISU Secretary General, James Herbert, commented: “The conference was oversubscribed and the atmosphere was overwhelmingly positive and initial feedback from delegates suggests that it was a great success. Formal commitment has not yet been made but I expect that we will repeat the event in a similar way next year. Colleagues from ISU, IG and IUA worked with excellent cooperation to deliver a brilliant forum.”

18th December 2025

Places for the Global Salvage and Wreck Forum 2025 to be held on 10^th and 11^th December at the Leonardo Royal City Hotel are going fast so please ensure that you register soon for your place at https://www.salvageandwreckforum.com/event/2025event/regProcessStep1

Here is the agenda for both days:

Day One           10 December 2025

08:30 GMT       Registration

09:30 GMT       Welcome from Global Salvage & Wreck Forum Event Chair

                             Speaker: Andrew Chamberlain (Partner, HFW – Event Chair)

09:35 GMT       IGP&I CEO Address: Insurance Perspectives

                             Speaker: Nick Shaw (CEO, IGP&I)

09:45 GMT       ISU President’s Address: Salvage and Wreck Removal Today

                            Speaker: Leendert Muller (ISU President, Multraship Towage & Salvage)

10:00 GMT       Shipping Industry and Casualty Report

                            Speaker: Stephen Gordon (Managing Director, Clarksons Research)

10:15 GMT       Cargo Interests in Maritime Casualties: Marginalised Stakeholders

                           Speakers: Mark Lloyd (Partner, DWF) & Jai Sharma (Partner, Clyde and Co)

11:30 GMT       LOF 2024: First Impressions from the Front Line 

11:45 GMT       Wreckstage 2024 and Wreckhire: What’s New, What’s Next?

                           Speaker: Andreas Øgrey (Senior Vice President, Global Head of Casualty and Major Claims, Skuld)

12:00 GMT      Facing the Fallout from Future Fuels: Are We Ready for Casualties?

14:00 GMT       From Principle to Port: Testing the Real-World Impact of the IMO Guidelines

                            Speakers: Tom Starr (Regional Claims Director, UK Club – Moderator) & Jacob Terling (Principal Administrator, European Maritime Safety Agency)

15:45 GMT       Operational Case Study

16:15 GMT       When Yachts Go Down: Salvage Challenges in Yacht Sector 

                           Speakers: Jose Prat (Technical Manager, Ardentia) & Nicola Dyer (Claims Manager, The Shipowners’ Club)

16:50 GMT       Day 1 Highlights and Insights from Event Chair

                           Speaker: Andrew Chamberlain (Partner, HFW – Event Chair)

17:30 GMT       Drinks Reception in the Crown Suite

Day Two        11 December 2025

08:30 GMT       Registration

09:30 GMT       Welcome from Global Salvage & Wreck Forum Event Chair

                             Speaker: Andrew Chamberlain (Partner, HFW – Event Chair)

09:35 GMT       IMO Insights on Marine Casualties and Wreck Removal

                            Speaker: Dorota Lost-Sieminska (Head of Legal and External Affairs, IMO)

09:50 GMT       Coastal State Authorities in Maritime Emergencies: Diverging Approaches

                            Speakers: Stephan Hennig (UK SOSREP, Maritime and Coastguard Agency) & David Cote (Legal Counsel, Department of Justice, Canada)

10:40 GMT       Salvors Under Scrutiny: Navigating Liability & Insurance

                           Speaker: Ben Harris (Chair of the IG Salvage Committee, The Shipowners Club)

11:30 GMT       Beyond the Wreck: The Complexities of Waste Management and Challenges 

                           Speakers: Nicky Cariglia (Director, Marittima Ltd – Moderator) & Martin Bjerregaard (Director, D3 Consulting)

12:15 GMT       Operational Case Study

14:00 GMT       IUA CEO Address: Insurance Perspectives

                           Speaker: Chris Jones (CEO, International Underwriting Association)

14:05 GMT       Geopolitical Flashpoints – A Look-Ahead

                           Speakers: Graham Thomas (Partner, Herminius – Advisors to LMA’s Joint War Risk Committee) & Dr. Dominick Donald

14:40 GMT       Ship Fires in Port: Operational Challenges and Interagency Coordination

                           Speaker: Todd Duke (General Manager, Resolve Marine)

15:00 GMT       Cold Front: Confronting the Challenges of Casualty Response in the Arctic and Antarctic

                           Speakers: Simon Burnay (CEO, Waves Group) & Andreas Brachel (Global Claims Lead – Sustainability and CEP Claims, Gard)

15:30 GMT       Conference Close and Conclusions from Event Chair

                           Speaker: Andrew Chamberlain (Partner, HFW – Event Chair)

The Annual General Meeting of the International Salvage Union (ISU) was held in Cape Town, South Africa, 2 October 2025. At the conclusion of the meeting, Captain Leendert Muller, Managing Director of Multraship Towage & Salvage, The Netherlands, was confirmed as President of the ISU.

Captain Muller succeeds Mr John Witte Jr., Donjon Marine, USA, who will continue as a member of the ISU Executive Committee.

Mr Witte said: “It has been an absolute honour and privilege to have been the President of ISU these past two years, and to represent the interests of all our members as we have tackled the major issues facing our industry. We are a vibrant industry and we continue to provide vital services – the ISU members are critical partners for insurers and owners to help meet their ESG requirements.

“I am delighted to be handing over to Leendert Muller who comes from a family with a long and proud tradition in salvage. Leendert has much experience of the industry – after a long time at sea he worked in all the key departments including as principle salvage master, and has demonstrated great commitment to marine salvage and the ISU of which he is a past President and I am sure the leadership of our association will be in good hands.”

Commenting on his appointment, Captain Muller said: “I would like to thank John for all that he has done for the ISU over the past two years: he has shown great dedication to the role. For my part it is a great honour to be the President of the ISU and I look forward to leading the association as it continues to address the current challenges, in particular, enhancing the reputation of the industry and strengthening further our relationships with shipowners and insurers.”

At the same time, Mr Richard Janssen, Managing Director of SMIT Salvage, The Netherlands, was confirmed as the vice President of the ISU. Mr Janssen is a past President of the association.

The ISU has published its annual statistics for 2024. They are the only published measure of the state of the industry but do not include information from non-ISU members.

• Gross revenue for ISU members – US$ 406 million (2023, US$ 398 million)

• 191 services provided (2023, 184 services)

• Lloyd’s Open Form (LOF) – 29 cases (2023, 16). LOF revenue US$ 118 million (2023, US$ 29 million)

• Wreck removal income – US$ 205 million from 40 services (2023, US$ 193 million from 30 services)

All numbers are gross income from which all the contractors’ costs must be paid. Numbers are for income in the year received not the year when the service was provided and there can be an element of “time lag”.

The headline 2024 numbers show great consistency with the 2023 statistics and continue with the modest recovery from the low point of 2022. Emergency response services generated US$ 181 million split between LOF, US$ 118 million, and other contracts, $63 million.

Wreck removal income was US$ 205 million from 40 operations – very similar to the 2023 number of US$ 193 million. Wreck removal income is important for ISU members and these numbers maintain the division of the industry’s income at the typical levels of approximately 50:50 between emergency response and wreck removal income.

ISU President, John Witte, commented: “These numbers at least show that the industry has stabilised compared with the low point two years ago but they are still well below the higher numbers from a decade ago. Sustaining the salvage industry so that professional contractors are available to respond around the world remains a focus both for ISU but also for the insurance and ship owning communities.”

The 2024 ISU statistics show an increased number of LOF cases – 29 for ISU members – generating income of US$ 118 million. This is a notable increase on the previous year in which there were 16 LOF cases which had been the lowest level of LOF contracts for ISU members since the ISU started collecting statistics some 30 years ago.

SCOPIC revenue at US$ 20 million in 2024 was up from US$ 9 million previously.

The increased number of LOFs is notable but it is not possible to attribute this to a specific cause given that the statistics are for the year when income is received, not when the services were provided. ISU believes that income based on awards under Article 13 of the Salvage Convention should be the cornerstone of funding the industry so the increase is welcome.

Revenue in 2024 from operations conducted under contracts other than LOF was US$ 63 million. The average revenue from each non-LOF contract was US$ 1.2 million.

The ISU statistics are collected from all ISU members by a professional third party, which aggregates and analyses them.

Members of the International Salvage Union (ISU) provided 162 services to vessels carrying 2.4 million tonnes of potentially polluting cargo and fuel during operations in 2024.

It again demonstrates the vital role of professional salvors in protecting the marine environment. The data come from the ISU’s Annual Pollution Prevention Survey for operations in 2024.

President of the ISU, John Witte, said: “Sustaining a viable professional salvage industry ready to respond to all kinds of incidents around the world is essential and that is recognised by insurers and owners but it needs to be properly funded. This survey clearly demonstrates that the threat is real and the interventions of our members are a vital contribution to environmental protection and to the protection of our clients’ reputations.”

There were 162 services in 2024 compared with 173 the previous year and that is in line with the downward trend of the ISU general industry statistics. But at the same time the potential impact of cases is getting larger, particularly in containership cases and also because of the greatly increased amount of bunkers carried by the largest ships.

Each year there can be significant variations in the quantities of pollutants in each category. That is largely due to the major impact on the numbers of, for example, cases involving large crude carriers. The number of containers in 2024 is notably higher than last year and, after bulk cargo, remains the most significant category with ISU members providing services to vessels carrying 41,000 TEU amounting to some 615,000 tonnes of cargo. It compares with 400,000 tonnes of crude oil. It is well established that containers carrying a great variety of harmful and dangerous goods including plastic pellets (nurdles) represent one of the biggest threats to the marine environment.

Cargoes of refined oil products increased again in 2024 but chemical cargoes dropped significantly. Dirty and hazardous bulk cargoes in 2024 were up at 923,000 tonnes. A number of the services in the survey did not record the quantity of bunkers or the cargo type meaning the reported numbers likely represent a more modest total than the reality.

2024 ISU Pollution Prevention Survey Results (tonnes)

The 162 services in 2024 included 34 wreck removal/marine services contracts; 15

Lloyd’s Open Forms; 24 towage contracts; 8 Japanese Forms; 10 Lump Sum, 6 Day Rate contracts; 42 other contracts (including commercial terms and common law salvage) and 26 Turkish Forms.

ISU is transparent in noting that not all the potential pollutants were at immediate risk of going into the sea. Some cases will have had limited danger, but others will have carried a real risk of causing substantial environmental damage.

John Witte added: “In an era of “zero tolerance” of any pollution, even the smaller cases represent a significant concern. And many of the individual cases recorded could have caused an environmental disaster if our members had not been available to intervene.”

The survey was first conducted by ISU in 1994 and the methodology was updated in 2014 to include a wider range of potential pollutants including containers and hazardous and dirty bulk cargoes. In the period 1994 to end-2024, ISU members have provided services to casualty vessels carrying 45,794,145 tonnes of potential pollutants, an average of 1.5 million tonnes per year.