THRACIAN PAYS A DIVIDEND .sx By Captain C. F. " Trader " HORN .sx A salvage award may be the seaman's 'pools prize'- but often it is no more than a fourth dividend .sx . SALVAGE !sx The very word has a special ring for the sailor , rather like the magic words " first dividend " have for the football pools enthusiast ashore .sx The very nature of the sailor's calling very often debars him from taking part in the pools , so any dreams he may have of sudden opulence are usually centred around a share of a big award for salvage at sea .sx Even so , any award he may get won't compare with the fabulous pools' prizes , and he'll undoubtedly have to work extremely hard for it , and possibly face great danger .sx Salvage awards are determined by the Admiralty Courts , which take into account all the risks involved , so even if our sailor chances upon an abandoned luxury liner , lying placidly on a tranquil sea and just waiting to be towed in , it won't bring him a first dividend !sx Marine salvage laws are complex , and one needs to be a Dutch lawyer to understand them .sx Sufficient for the sailor to know the main factors which govern the amount he is likely to get for his prize if , in fact , anything at all !sx Masters of all ships have an express duty to render assistance to persons in danger at sea , oddly enough including enemy subjects in time of war .sx The rescue of ships , lives or cargo from danger is a salvage service , and rewards for such services are paid according to the risks run by the salvors , the value of the property they risk and , of course , what is saved and from what danger .sx The few occasions when I've had a personal interest in a salvage claim- even when all added together- haven't produced enough even to buy a coffee stall .sx They all occurred during my service with the Trinity House , which is not altogether surprising when one remembers that ships of the Trinity House Service frequently put to sea on emergency calls , when other ships are running for shelter , and it's usually under just those conditions that help is called for .sx They ranged from drifting bales of raw silk to part cargo from the much-publicized wreck of the Flying Enterprise , but the biggest one , which initially seemed to spell shore-bound independence , happened in the winter of 1955 , just one year before I 'swallowed the anchor' .sx As is nearly always the case with salvage work , it was one of those nights when sailors envy farmers their jobs- as black as Egypt's night , pouring with rain and blowing a gale from the south-east .sx We'd had a really dirty passage south from Flamborough Head , and had tucked ourselves close under the lee of Scroby Elbow in Yarmouth Roads for the night .sx Scroby Elbow is a small , natural inlet on the landward side of the Scroby Sands , which run parallel to the Norfolk coast , and quite a big ship can creep in there with local knowledge- it's the only bit of shelter for miles when the wind's south-easterly in that area .sx I was quite tired and very relieved when I wrote " Finished with engines " in the logbook , set anchor watches and went below to the wardroom .sx We'd just about settled down to our evening meal when a quartermaster appeared to report a ship on fire about three miles north of us .sx In view of the weather conditions , we'd maintained a full head of steam , so it wasn't long before we were under way and steaming towards the other ship at our best speed .sx I was on the navigating bridge , while the officers mustered the hands to make our boats ready with blankets and medical stores , and prepared the fire-fighting equipment .sx I could tell from the bearing of the ship in distress that she was probably ashore on the northern end of the sandbank , and the flames the quartermaster had seen were actually distress signals which are described in the regulations as " flames from a burning tar barrel , oil barrel , " .sx Soon this was confirmed as she started to fire distress rockets , and I saw the maroon from shore announcing the launching of the Caister lifeboat .sx The lifeboat and the ship I was commanding , the T.H.V. Warden , reached a spot abreast of the grounded ship at the same time , and our motor launch was lowered to assist the lifeboat in the rescue of the crew .sx This tricky manoeuvre was carried out by the lifeboat's crew with an easy coolness , in spite of the foul weather and , as a sailor , I was filled with admiration for the seamanlike way in which it was done .sx When the stranded ship had been abandoned , we approached her as near as possible , with a searchlight playing on the wreck .sx In its powerful beam I could see that she was a steam trawler of some two-hundred and fifty tons , the Thracian , registered in the port of Grimsby , and I learned later that she was bound for Ostend .sx It was still flood tide ( rising ) although it had eased , and the force of the wind was great enough to prevent her driving any farther on to the bank .sx This was a good omen , for I hoped that at slack water the gale force weight of the wind might shift her .sx We had to stay by her in any case .sx As a derelict , she was a potential danger to navigation and was , therefore , the responsibility of Trinity House .sx Added to this , in their haste to leave her , the crew had left her navigation lights burning , which could easily be misleading to other shipping .sx My surmise was right , for an hour or so later her bow started to lift to the big ground swell , showing that only her stern was still aground .sx We weighed anchor and approached her still nearer , but with great care , fixing our position constantly , and continuously sounding the depth of water , for this was the moment if we were going to get her off .sx Some of our ratings had already been placed on board Thracian by Warden's motor boat , and had put out a fire , on her engine-room skylight , which had been started by the flame distress signals .sx They'd also drawn her stokehold fires , for if they'd been left alight , with no feed water going into the boilers , they might have blown up .sx In a ship drawing fifteen feet , when one is approaching a hidden danger in a full gale and , with the tide setting on one side and the wind pressing on the other , making leeway which cannot be accurately calculated , it is not easy to appear calm as , in sing-song monotony , the soundings are called to the bridge from the leadsman in the chains .sx " By the mark , three .sx " " And a quarter less , three .sx " This was as near as we could go , with just eighteen inches of water under our keel .sx Now my ship had to be held there , for we were near enough to run a rope away and get it on board the trawler .sx In retrospect , it was an easy job , for there were no snags ; but I suspect that I got three more grey hairs during the operation .sx At long last we had the Thracian secured alongside our starboard side , against huge coir fenders , our launch was hoisted inboard and both ships were in deep water again .sx The weather had worsened , and to leave the comparative shelter of Yarmouth Roads would have been madness .sx Yarmouth Haven is always a tricky place to enter in a south-east wind , and even for an unimpeded ship it would have been hazardous under the prevailing conditions .sx To do so with another vessel in tow was impossible , so I took my tow back to my sheltered anchorage to ride out the storm .sx When daylight came I surveyed my prize .sx She was no luxury liner .sx She certainly looked her part of a derelict , and I learned later that she had been sold for scrap , and a scratch crew were taking her on her last voyage to the Belgian breakers' yard .sx Just my luck , I thought .sx For the next two days it blew really hard without the slightest abatement .sx Thracian surged and ranged against our ship-side , chewing away the fendering , and fraying and parting the mooring ropes holding the two ships together .sx We dropped her astern , on the end of a seven-inch manilla , for comfort , and she laid comfortably on the ebb tide ; but so great was the wind force , that on the flood she kept driving up on us , so there was no respite for the watch on deck .sx Twice we got under way and ran down to the haven entrance , but each time we poked our noses outside the friendly lee of the sands , it was obvious that it was quite hopeless .sx The seas breaking high over the south pier lighthouse , and the gyrating boil between the piers , spelt disaster for anyone ill-advised enough to attempt to cross the bar .sx I learned over the radio-telephone that charges for towage into the port were based on the tonnage of the towing vessel , so I engaged a local tug to do the job for twenty pounds .sx It was more than forty-eight hours after we had plucked the trawler off the sandbank before conditions improved sufficiently to allow us to hand her over to the harbour tug , and be berthed in Yarmouth Haven .sx I deposited a claim for salvage with the Receiver of Wrecks , and learned that I was now a ship owner , and responsible for all debts she incurred , such as harbour dues , moorings , etc. , until such time as she was handed back to her rightful owner .sx For his part , he had to deposit a considerable sum of money before he could sail her again , pending negotiations on our claim .sx These were quite protracted , and it was many months before we agreed a mutual settlement .sx It wasn't a first dividend- unless there were a lot of winners that week !sx THE LAWS OF SALVAGE .sx AS salvage operations are often attended by considerable hard work and great risk , the obligation to pay compensation is so obviously based on the principles of justice that payment has been allowed at all times by every civilized country .sx To qualify for salvage , it must be shown that ( 1 ) services were rendered voluntarily , ( 2 ) there was the chance of destruction if the service had been withheld , and ( 3 ) the services rendered were of actual benefit .sx Towage , in most cases , gives no right to compensation payment as distinct from towage fees , and a ship's crew is expected , in the ordinary course of duty , to do all that may be necessary to save their vessel .sx However , if unusual services are performed , or unforeseen perils encountered , a claim is nearly always sustained .sx Salvage laws quote an example of circumstances in which there would be an entitlement to reward .sx If a vessel , whose captain is ignorant of the locality , during a heavy storm is driving towards a dangerous shore , and a pilot , seeing her loss to be inevitable , puts out to sea to assist , he would be entitled to salvage , because his services could not reasonably be expected in return for ordinary pilots' fees .sx In the absence of any prior agreement between the parties as to the rate of salvage payable , the amount is assessed , as a rule , by the Admiralty Court .sx And in the case of any such agreement having been made , the Court would still set it aside if it considered the amount exorbitant , and that it had been agreed to by the master of the ship under moral compulsion .sx Salvage money is divided in certain proportions between the owners , captain , other officers , and the crew of the salving vessel .sx GIRL DIVERS OF JAPAN .sx EVER since the tenth century , Japanese girls have been plunging into the waters around their country's coastline , in their search for pearls , and for the seaweed used as fertilizer .sx Known as amas , these girls , wearing only shorts and goggles , comb the sea bed for the prize , their sole equipment being a knife with a foot-long blade , and a basket to carry their catch .sx