Salvage vessel

A salvage vessel is a ship fitted to recover wrecked, stranded, or disabled vessels and their cargo, equipped with heavy towing winches, large bollard pull, cranes, pumps, compressors, diving and ROV spreads, and firefighting monitors. The work splits into emergency response (refloating a grounded ship, fighting a fire, transferring cargo) and wreck removal (lifting or cutting up a sunken hull). Salvage is governed commercially by Lloyd’s Open Form and the no-cure-no-pay principle, with awards weighed under the 1989 International Convention on Salvage. Many modern salvage units are convertible anchor-handling tugs or offshore support vessels rather than dedicated hulls, since the same machinery serves both trades.