THE DETAINED BARQUE SOLGRAN.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1007, 23 December 1910, Page 5

THE DETAINED BARQUE SOLGRAN.

OWNERS MUST PAT. SALVAGE. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) . Christchurch, December 22. In the case in which tho master, owners, and crew of the steamer Reemere claimed -from. tlio barque Solgran a sum of ,£SOO for salvage services alleged to have been rendered, the judgment of Mr. Justice Sim was this morning the representatives of the parties by the Registrar of the Supreme Court. . His Honour, in his judgment, said that certain salvage services were alleged to have been rendered in . the estuary of tho River Derwent,. Tasmania, on April 27 last, oh the evening of , which day the Reemere took the Solgran in tow, and towed her for about two miles. The question to he determined Was whether tho assistance thus rendered amounted to salvage services. It was laid down that all services rendered at sea to a ship in . distress were salvage services, and it was not. necessary that distress should be immediate and absolute. It was sufficient if, at the time that assistance was rendered, the .vessel had encountered . any damage, or: misfortune which might possibly expose her to destruction if services were not rendered (the ChaTlotte 3, W. Rob. 68, 71; the Strathnaver 1, app. cas. 58, 65). It was. sufficient if there Was a state of difficulty, and reasonable apprehension of danger , (the Phantom, L.R. 1, A. and E. 58, CO). " His Honour, in reviewing the evidence, . said that ; ho was satisfied' that, before the assistance of the steamer was offered and . accepted, the Solgran had drifted still further eastward, and that she was then in a position of danger. This was clear, his Honour thought, from the evidence of Captain Boon,' the superintendent of the Derwent lighthouse, is to the offer alleged to have , been made by the captain of the Solgran to the captain of the steamer, to give the last-mentioned £2 to pluck the barque's head round, his Honour held that it had not been made out that the offer was made in such a way, that the captain of the steamer heard and Tinderstood it. He thought it highly improbable that 1 Captain Calvert, of the . Reemere, would . have agreed to accept so small a. sum. The assistance rendered, by .the steamer lasted less than an hour, and, looking at all'the circumstances, his Honour thought . that. ,£75 would be a reasonable sum to allow for the services t rendered. He accordingly jnade an award for that sum, with costs.