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![handle is hein.slavery/ssactsengr0451 and id is 1 raw text is: 2 W. ROB. 92.
THE OCEAN
689
strictly to the application of those principles to the peculiar circumstances of this
case.
It would have been a great relief to my mind if I could have confined my judgment
to the simple declaration, that the bond and other liens should be paid out of the
proceeds of the ship and freight proportionably ; but I could not avoid seeing that
the result of such a decision would have been, that I should have relieved myself
at the expense of the parties in the suit. Its effect must have been either that the
proceeds of the ship and freight must have remained in the registry, to await a
decision in a suit in equity, or all these questions must have been agitated upon
motion to pay out the balance of the proceeds. I do not wish to forestall any ques-
tions of the kind which can arise. In forming my opinion, I have, to the best of
my ability, considered all the points upon which I have pronounced my decision ;
and if the parties are dissatisfied with it, they have still open to them every remedy
which they possess.
The costs of the bondholder must be paid out of the proceeds of the ship and
freight :-as to the other, parties, I give no costs.
THE OCEAN -(Martin). April 19, 1843.-The carrying an order for a steamer
to go out of harbour, to a vessel which was in danger and distress, held to
be a salvage service under the circumstances of the case.
[S. C. 1 L. T. (0. S.) 58.]
This was a question of salvage under the circumstances noticed in the judgment
of the Court.
For the salvors, Harding.
For the owners, Addams.
[92] Per Curiam.-A tender of £10 has been offered by the owners of the Ocean
for services which are admitted to have been rendered by the salvors in the present
instance, and the question which I have to determine is, whether, under the circum-
stances of the case, such tender is a sufficient compensation. The facts of the case
are shortly these :-On the morning of the 15th of November, the salvors, consisting
of five men, including the master, had been occupied in the North Sea in fishing,
but, in consequence of the state of the weather, they were compelled to give up
their employment, and were making for the shore, when they observed the brig
the Ocean apparently without canvass and in distress. It is expressly averred,
on behalf of the salvors, that, at the time when they were so making for the shore,
they were on the lookout to render assistance to any vessel which might happen
to be in a state of distress ; and I must say that this averment is highly probable,
because, in the first place, the period of the year in which the transaction took place
appears to render it likely ; and it is a matter of notoriety, that fishing vessels off
the coast are alternately, almost universally, employed in the performance of salvage
services. Observing the Ocean apparently in distress, the salvors immediately
altered the course of their vessel, and proceeded to her assistance. There is some
discrepancy in the statements as to what passed when the vessels neared each other.
On behalf of the Ocean, it is stated that a verbal communication was made
to the fishing smack by the master of the Ocean ; but, on behalf of the salvors,
it is alleged that the effect of that communication could [93] not be understood
by the persons on board the fishing smack, in consequence of the noise made by the
sea and wind. I am inclined to think that the statement of the salvors is the correct
statement, and for this reason, viz. that they proceeded to board the Ocean ;
and it is admitted by the master of the Ocean, in his affidavit, that the boarding
of the vessel was not unattended with risk and danger. 'ie says that the degree
of danger has been exaggerated by the salvors, but he admits that there was risk
and peril in the attempt ; and it is not very probable that if the smack's men had
heard the communication, and there had been no necessity whatever for their
encountering this danger, they would voluntarily and unnecessarily have exposed
themselves to it. With respect to what took place when the salvors got on board,
the respective statements are again most conflicting. The master of the Ocean
swears most distinctly that he informed the salvors that his vessel was not in any
danger, and that he only wished to have her removed from the situation in which
she then was. This statement is directly denied on the other side ; and looking
to the probabilities of the case, I must say that the balance of credibility again](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.slavery/ssactsengr0451&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)