Originally Posted By: haertig
I know nothing about maritime laws, but I would highly doubt that if your engines quit then you become immediate fodder for anybody who shows up and throws a rope around you and claims you. That's a fairly ridiculous concept to imagine.


Maritime salvage law is weird. I am not an attorney and I don't play one on the Internet, but here is my understanding:

If a vessel is abandoned, a salvage court will award some largeish amount to the salvor based on the worth of the vessel, the risk and the cost undertaken by the salvor. If the vessel is not abandoned, the owners/captain should engage in an explicit towing contract before accepting a tow, or whoever tows it may be entitled to a substantial salvage award. There's a good article about this at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_salvage .