Category Archives: Isu News

The Annual General Meeting of the International Salvage Union (ISU) was held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 12 October 2023. At the conclusion of the meeting, Mr John Witte Jr. Donjon Marine, USA, became the new President of the ISU.

Mr Witte succeeds Captain Nicholas Sloane, Resolve Marine, USA, who will continue as a member of the ISU Executive Committee.

Captain Sloane 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. The ISU’s own statistics show that our members are facing difficult economic times but 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.

“In the past two years we have made good progress on issues such as the SCOPIC rates and the creation of new guidelines for Special Casualty Representatives and on the BIMCO 2023 WreckStage contract. We have maintained good relations with the clubs, owners and property insurers.

“I am delighted to be handing over to John Witte who comes from a family with a long and proud tradition in salvage. John has much experience of the industry – both as a salvage master and operational manager – 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, Mr Witte said: “I would like to thank Nick 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, Captain Leendert Muller, Managing Director of Multraship Towage & Salvage, The Netherlands, was confirmed as the vice President of the ISU. Mr Muller is a past President of the association.

Key figures:

• Gross revenue for ISU members – US$ 241 million (2021, US$ 391 million)
• 149 services provided (2021, 189 services)
• Lloyd’s Open Form (LOF) – 26 cases (2021, 29). LOF revenue down at US$ 66 million (2021, US$ 122 million)
• Wreck removal income – US$ 55 million from 32 services (2021, US$ 108 million from 56 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.

ISU President, Captain Nicholas Sloane, said: “The 2022 ISU statistics show a 38 per cent decrease in the income received by our members compared with the previous year. Emergency Response services generated US$ 166 million split between LOF, US$ 66 million and other contracts, $100 million.

“Wreck removal income has nearly halved, dropping from US$ 108 to US$ 55 million. Economic conditions are challenging and activity and income for our industry is volatile year-on-year. The general trend towards a smaller number of larger and more complex cases enhances that annual variability.

“The numbers in this survey reflect the period when the world was still fully contending with the Covid pandemic which made operations and logistics more challenging. Throughout those difficult times ISU members showed time and again their problem solving and willingness to overcome obstacles to provide services to their clients, the shipowners, and their insurers. And, taken alongside the ISU’s pollution prevention statistics, these numbers demonstrate a dynamic industry which, in most years, performs some 200 salvage services.

The 2022 ISU statistics show a historic low level of LOF cases – 26 for ISU members – generating income of US$ 66 million. Revenue from LOF cases amounted to 40 per cent of all emergency response revenue and LOF cases accounted for 21 per cent of emergency response cases in 2022. SCOPIC revenue at US$ 21 million in 2022 was down from US$ 42 million previously.

Revenue in 2022 from operations conducted under contracts other than LOF was US$ 100 million. The average revenue from each non-LOF contract was therefore US$ 813,000.

Wreck removal is an important source of income for members of the ISU and in 2022 there was US$ 55 million from 32 operations (23 per cent of the total income) which was dramatically down on 2021’s US$ 108 million from 56 operations (28 per cent of the total income) .

Captain Sloane added: “Professional salvors protect the environment, reduce risk and mitigate loss. They also keep trade moving – which is demonstrated so clearly when there are large containership cases. We continue to work closely with key stakeholders to ensure that there is continued global provision of professional salvage services.”

The ISU statistics are collected from all ISU members by a professional third party, which aggregates and analyses them. The statistics do not include the revenues of non-ISU members but are the only formal measure of the state of the marine salvage industry. The statistics are for income received in the relevant year but that can include revenue relating to services provided in previous years and there can be an element of “time lag”. The statistics are for gross revenues from which all of the salvors’ costs must be met.

Members of the International Salvage Union (ISU) provided 186 services to vessels carrying 2.6 million tonnes of potentially polluting cargo and fuel during operations in 2022, clearly showing the critical role of professional salvors in protecting the marine environment. The data come from the results of the ISU’s Annual Pollution Prevention Survey for operations in 2022.

President of the ISU, Captain Nicholas Sloane, said: “We are all now so much more aware of, and careful about, the environment. But we all need shipping and incidents like the Suez Canal blockage demonstrated that reliance. The shipping and insurance industries recognise their responsibilities and the importance of maintaining their “licence to operate” and the availability of emergency response services is a critical part of meeting those responsibilities.

“The number of services fell last year and each year there can be significant variations of the quantities of pollutants in each category. But, overall, the amount of pollutants has stayed consistent. The number of containers is lower than last year but, after bulk cargo, still represents the most significant category with our members providing services to vessels carrying 50,000 TEU amounting to some 747,270 tonnes of cargo. It compares with 141,000 tonnes of crude oil, confirming the shift over the past decades as oil trades have become safer. Boxes stuffed with harmful and dangerous goods including plastic pellets (nurdles) represent one of the biggest threats to the marine environment. They are potentially very damaging and, with the added issue of misdeclaration of contents, dangerous to deal with.”

Captain Sloane added: “The ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) agenda is so important for shipowners and insurers and we need to ensure that the capability, and willingness, of commercial salvors to provide vital services around the world is valued and not eroded.”

Cargoes of refined oil products in 2022’s numbers were similar to crude oil at 144,808 tonnes. Chemical cargoes rose to 79,319 tonnes in 2022. Bulk cargoes increased significantly to 1,235,741 tonnes in 2022 compared to 424,719 last time. This category includes products such as coal, scrap steel, grains, soya and cement. A number of bulk cargoes are not included as potential pollutants and ISU members also provided services to bulkers carrying 113,926 tonnes of non- hazardous dry bulk – mainly metal ores.

11 cases had more than 2000 tonnes of bunkers on board and the total of bunkers involved was 108,112 tonnes. A number of the services noted in the survey did not record the quantity of bunkers or the cargo-type meaning the reported totals likely represent a more modest total than the reality.

ISU is transparent about the fact that not all these 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. In an era of “zero tolerance” of any pollution, even the smaller cases represent a significant concern.

2021 ISU Pollution Prevention Survey Results (tonnes)

The 186 services in 2022 included 12 wreck removal/marine services contracts; 16 Lloyd’s Open Forms. 38 towage contracts; 4 Japanese Forms; 4 Lump Sum, Day Rate 5 contracts; 84 other contracts (including commercial terms and common law salvage) and 23 Turkish Forms.

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-2022, ISU members have provided services to casualty vessels carrying 41,478,058 tonnes of potential pollutants, an average of 1.4 million tonnes per year.

ISU today published its annual statistics for 2021:

• Gross revenue for ISU members – US$ 391 million (2020, US$ 301 million)
• 189 services provided (2020, 182 services)
• Lloyd’s Open Form (LOF) – 29 cases (2020, 40). LOF revenue up at US$ 122 million (2020, US$ 60 million)
• Wreck removal income – US$ 108 million from 56 services (2020, US$ 98 million from 101 services)

All numbers are gross income from which all the contractors’ costs must be paid.

ISU President, Captain Nicholas Sloane, said: “The 2021 ISU statistics show a 26 per cent increase in the income received by our members compared with the previous year. Emergency Response services generated US$ 242 million split almost equally between LOF and other contracts – US$ 122 million and $120 million respectively.

‘’Wreck removal income has stayed very similar to the previous year and is still down on the historic proportion of our members’ income – some 50 per cent% – which wreck removal typically represents.

“Economic conditions are challenging and activity and income for our industry is volatile year-on-year. The general trend towards a smaller number of larger and more complex cases enhances that annual variability.

“The numbers in this survey reflect the period when the world was still fully contending with the Covid pandemic which made operations and logistics more
challenging. Throughout those difficult times ISU members showed time and again their problem solving and willingness to overcome obstacles to provide services to their clients, the shipowners, and their insurers. And, taken alongside the ISU’s pollution prevention statistics, these numbers demonstrate a dynamic industry which most years performs some 200 salvage services.

“Professional salvors protect the environment, reduce risk and mitigate loss. They also keep trade moving – which is demonstrated so clearly when there are large containership cases. We continue to work closely with key stakeholders to ensure that there is continued global provision of professional salvage services.”

The 2021 ISU statistics show a historic low level of LOF cases – 29 for ISU members – generating income of US$ 122 million. It compares with 40 cases worth US$ 60 million in 2019. Revenue from LOF cases amounted to 50 per cent of all emergency response revenue and LOF cases accounted for 15 per cent of emergency response cases in 2021. SCOPIC revenue at US$ 41 million in 2021 was up from US$ 24 million previously.

Revenue in 2021 from operations conducted under contracts other than LOF was US$ 120 million, effectively the same as in 2020 (US$ 119 million). The average revenue from each non-LOF contract was therefore US$ 750,000.

Wreck removal is an important source of income for members of the ISU but 2021, with US$ 108 million from 56 operations (28 per cent of the total income), showed the same trend as 2020 (US$ 98 million received from 52 services – 33 per cent of the total).

The ISU statistics are collected from all ISU members by a professional third party, which aggregates and analyses them. The statistics do not include the revenues of non-ISU members but are the only formal measure of the state of the marine salvage industry. The statistics are for income received in the relevant year but that can include revenue relating to services provided in previous years and there can be an element of “time lag”. The statistics are for gross revenues from which all of the salvors’ costs must be met.

Members of the International Salvage Union (ISU) provided 226 services to vessels carrying 2.6 million tonnes of potentially polluting cargo and fuel during operations in 2021. It demonstrates the critical role of professional salvors in protecting the marine environment. The data come from the results of the ISU’s Annual Pollution Prevention Survey for operations in 2021.

President of the ISU, Captain Nicholas Sloane, said: “The shipping industry knows only too well that it is under the spotlight for its environmental performance: both for the environmental impact of operating ships and for the threat they, and their cargo, present to the environment. All casualties have the potential to develop into serious incidents and, in a world where even the smallest amount of pollution is unacceptable, the work of our members is essential.

“The most eye-catching number in these results is for containers. ISU members provided services to vessels carrying more than 100,000 TEU amounting to more than 1.5 million tonnes of cargo. The mixed nature of such cargoes – including dangerous goods, harmful chemicals, plastic pellets – means that they are potentially highly polluting and difficult and dangerous to deal with.”

Captain Sloane added: “Shipowners and insurers are increasingly under pressure to demonstrate their ESG credentials (Environmental, Social and Governance) and, where engaged, ISU members play an important role in helping them to meet their environmental obligations and demonstrate their commitment. Continued global provision of the professional salvage services offered by members of the ISU is essential.”

Crude oil cargo was relatively low in 2021 at 103,408 tonnes while cargoes of refined oil products rose to 182,232 tonnes. Chemical cargoes fell significantly to 24,126 tonnes in 2021. The number of containers involved in ISU members’ services in 2021 climbed dramatically to 103,935 TEU equating to some to 1,559,025 tonnes (allowing a nominal 15 tonnes per TEU).

Bulk cargoes decreased significantly to 424,719 tonnes in 2021 compared to 744,246 tonnes last time. This category includes products such as coal, scrap steel, grains, soya and cement. A number of bulk cargoes are not included as potential pollutants and ISU members also provided services to bulkers carrying 209,475 tonnes of non-hazardous dry bulk – mainly metal ores.

11 cases had more that 2000 tonnes of bunkers on board and the total of bunkers involved was 89,456 tonnes. An increased number of the services noted in the survey did not record the quantity of bunkers or the cargo type.

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

2021 ISU Pollution Prevention Survey Results (tonnes)

The 226 services in 2021 included 30 wreck removal/marine services contracts; 26 Lloyd’s Open Forms. 52 towage contracts; 15 Japanese Forms; 8 Fixed Price and Lump Sum contracts; 27 Day Rate contracts; 44 other contracts and 24 Turkish Forms.

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-2021, ISU members have provided services to casualty vessels carrying 38,872,986 tonnes of potential pollutants, an average of 1.4 million tonnes per year.