Rena cargo owners could be hit with massive bill

Schadenfreude is defined as pleasure derived from the misfortune of others. The Antipodean Mariner derives no pleasure from the misfortune that the owners of the cargo aboard the Rena now find themselves, but it is satisfying to have correctly predicted the General Average claim in this Blog ( Rena General Average, 15th November 2011).

In the span of a single TV story, the Salvors have been toppled from their pedestal as the saviours of little penguins to the pariah status of tow truck drivers of the sea. It's always a problem when the media creates and then destroys heroes, but the Salvors always knew what they were on the Rena to do even if the Press didn't.

The Salvors are there working day in, day out on the stinking, maggot infested, oil-soaked listing deck of the Rena to make money. Their livelihood depends on maritime casualties occuring and the Salvors being ready, willing and able to salvage property for just reward.

Tha Antipodean Mariner
30th November 2011

TVNZ - Rena cargo owners could be hit with massive bill

http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/rena-cargo-owners-could-hit-massive-bill-4583115

The owners of cargo on board the Rena may have to pay huge sums of money just to get it back.

ONE News has learned they could be charged as much as 80% of the value of their possessions on the ship, which would be the highest charge in history to return shipwrecked goods.
The Rena ran aground on Astrolabe Reef off the Tauranga coast on October 5 and it has been understood the vessel's owners would foot the bill for the salvage operation.

Rena cargo owners could be hit with massive bill

The owners of cargo on board the Rena may have to pay huge sums of money just to get it back.

ONE News has learned they could be charged as much as 80% of the value of their possessions on the ship, which would be the highest charge in history to return shipwrecked goods.
The Rena ran aground on Astrolabe Reef off the Tauranga coast on October 5 and it has been understood the vessel's owners would foot the bill for the salvage operation.

But ONE News can now reveal that anyone with cargo in containers on board is likely to have to stump up.

Craig Fellows' household contents are stuck on the Rena and he may have to pay tens of thousands of dollars to get it back.

"You've paid a lot of money to get your goods from one point to another and then you get charged with almost the same again...that's just criminal," Fellows said.

Salvage crews working for Svitzer have retrieved 165 of the nearly 1300 containers stuck on the shipwreck and under maritime law the company has a right to claim whatever it salvages. It can then return the property to the original owners if they guarantee to pay a percentage of its value.

ONE News has learned from a number of sources that Svitzer plans to charge property owners 80 per cent which is said to be the highest rate ever charged on goods salvaged from a vessel. So far, the highest charge is 60% for cargo retrieved from the infamous Napoli shipwreck off the UK coast five years ago.

Svitzer would not directly answer questions about the 80% rate.

Mediterranean Shipping Company, which chartered the Rena, will also have to pay to retrieve its empty containers and while it declined to comment on camera it told ONE News "the rate is too high".

Maritime lawyer Philip Rzepecky said the rate is high. "It's almost the total value of the cargo, but it means that these salvors think that the degree of difficulty was extreme," he said.


Seagulls circle food products removed from Rena at the Truman Lane container processing site: Maritime NZ

If the claim goes to arbitration in London, Svitzer could end up charging less but an insurance insider told ONE News it may only drop by around 5%.

Svitzer is understood to be talking with the ship's owners and the negotiations are expected to wrap up this week.