Page 51: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 2014)

www.marinelink.com 51 that lie ahead.

Schauer I often joke that the misery of the salvage business is that once you get in, you can’t get out – that you rapidly lose any quali? cations, at- tention span, or possibly even the sanity required to hold any real job!

In all seriousness, and notwithstand- ing the potential liabilities of our current responder immunity status, the future of the salvage business is bright. Global shipping will continue to grow as well as the challenges that vessel operators will face in staf? ng ship’s with compe- tent and experienced crews. Casualties will continue to happen and salvors will be needed as much or more than ever.

Expectations for response capability will continue to extend for larger ships and for deeper water.

Developing countries will continue to expand their adherence to internation- ally accepted environmental standards, and the days of leaving polluted wrecks behind in the waters of under-resourced nations will come to an end. It’s a good time to be a salvor, which is fortunate, given my questionable employability for any other job.

Beaver It may sound corny, but the salvage business is a passion, it gets in your blood. Maritime salvage is the ultimate test of ingenuity, skill, busi- ness savvy and seamanship. Naturally the emergent nature also has appeal.

One never knows when the phone will ring, and the battle is to begin. This is what salvors love, this is what salvors do.

As far as thinking “should I get out of this business,” the only thing that could do that would be if my company’s very existence was put in the crosshairs of the legal community.

This is why the ASA is working so hard to establish responder immunity for marine salvors. There is no reason for a reputable salvor to have to hesitate during a response because he thinks he may get caught up in a frivolous lawsuit.

We members of the ASA hope that good clear language in the law will prevent this from happening.

The Respondents Paul Hankins

Paul Hankins, VP of Salvage Opera- tions at Donjon Marine, has more than 30 years in the maritime industry. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1981. Jim Elliott

Jim Elliott, VP, T&T Marine Salvage, started his maritime career 30 years ago working as a commercial diver and man- aging search and rescue operations for the U.S. Coast Guard. As Vice President of T&T Marine Salvage, he manages all aspects of operations, from heavy lift to diving. Todd Schauer

Todd Schauer has 20 years of marine salvage experience that began with a career in the U.S. Coast Guard and serv- ing on the USCG’s Salvage Emergency

Response Team. He has worked for Re- solve Marine Group for 14 years, and is currently the Director of Operations for

Resolve’s worldwide salvage business. Tim Beaver

Beaver is a company founder. He began diving commercially in 1977, and made dives on a regular basis for the subse- quent 30 years. His in-water experience includes ship repair, salvage, marine construction, pipeline installation, and other services utilizing air, mixed gas, and saturation diving techniques.

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