The Pontoporos
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 03 April 1916 |
| Date | 03 April 1916 |
| Court | Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division |
Prize Court
Sir S. T. Evans, President
The Pontoporos
Neutral ship Capture by belligerent Recapture by other belligerent
MARITIME LAW CASES 303 PRIZE CT.] THE PONTOPOROS [PRIZE CT. PROBATE, DIVORCE, AND ADMIRALTY DIVISION. PRIZE COURT. March 20 and April 3,1916. (Before Sir S. T. Evans, President.) The Pontoporos. (a) Neutral ship-Capture by belligerent-Recapture by other belligerent-Salvage--Right to claim same-Rule at to salvage on recapture of neutral ship-Exception to rule-Conduct and character of captor-Right to destroy-Promise to release -Bona fides-German naval code. Although it is a general rule of the law of nations that no salvage is due fat the recapture of neutral ships, there it an exception to this rule, that it, salvage it payable of the ship when recaptured was practically liable to be confiscated or destroyed by the enemy captor, whether right-fully or wrongfully. The P., a neutral ship laden with coal which was the property of British subjects, was captured by a Gernan cruiser shortly after the outbreak of war in 1914 A large quantity of the coal was taken by the cruiser, the crew of the P. were made prisoners, a German prize crew was put on board, threats were made to destroy the P. by the Germans, and the ship was compelled to accompany the German cruiser wherever required. About five weeks after the date of the capture the P. was recaptured by a British cruiser, and a claim was put in for salvage remuneration by the captain, officers, and crew of the British cruiser. The shipowners resisted the claim on the ground that the P. had never been in presumptive peril. Held, that, having regard to the fact that the commander of the German warship was " entitled " under German law to destroy the captured vessel and the likelihood that he would have done to, the opinion of the court was that the recapture of the ship both saved the ship from condemnation if brought before a Prize Court and from almost certain risk of destruction on the high seas if the was not. Held, consequently, that restitution to her Greek owners on recapture should have been upon payment of reasonable salvage. Award 73332., or one-sixth of the value of the salved property. This was a claim made by Captain Henry Lake Cochrane, of H.M.S. Yarmouth, and the officers and crew of the said ship, for salvage remuneration in connection with the recapture of the Greek steamship Pontoporos, after she had been captured by the German cruiser Emden. The case was contested as an ordinary Admiralty action, but, by the direction of the President, it was treated as a matter of prize. The fall details as to the voyage of the Pontoporos are set out in the judgment of the President. On behalf of the plaintiff it was contended that, by reason of the salvage and recapture of the vessel, the Pon-toporos had been rescued from total loss to her owners. On behalf of the shipowners it was contended that, in accordance with the terms of a promise made by the captain of the Emden, the Pontoporos was never in danger of Jestruction, but would have been released as soon as all the coal required by the German cruiser had been taken out of her. Laing, K.C. and Lewis Noad for the claimants. Dawson Miller, K.C. and D. Stephens for the shipowners. The following anthorities were cited daring the course of the arguments: The War Onskan, Roscoe, vol. 1, 239 ; 2 Ch. Rob. 279; The Eleonora Catharina, Roscoe, vol. 1, 367; 4 Ch. Rob. 156; The Carlotta, Roscoe, 5 Ch. Rob. 54; The Huntress, Roscoe, 6 Ch. Rob. 104; The Maria (referred to in the case of the Kim), 13 Asp. Mar. Law Cas. 178; 113 L. T. Rep. 1064; (1915) P. 215; Pitt-Cobbett's Cases and Opinions cm International Law, vol. 2, 220; German Prize Code. Cur. adv. vult. April 3.-The President.-This is a claim for prize salvage on the recapture of a neutral ship from an enemy captor. The claim is made by the captain and the crew of H.M.S. Yarmouth, and it is made with the approval of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. The ship which was recaptured was the Pontoporos, a steamship, registered at the port of Andros, in the kingdom of Greece, and the property of a (a) Reported by J. A. SLATEE, Esq., Barrister-at-Law. 304 MARITIME LAW CASES. PRIZE CT.] THE POSTOPOROS. [PRIZE CT. Greek company. The value of the ship is ' 44,0002. This is the first case in which proceedings for prize salvage have been taken during the present war. The claim is made only...
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- The Unitas
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The Svanfos; The Borgila
...justified by the courts of the captor”(at p. 196). The learned judge referred to Sir Samuel Evans, P., in The Pontoporos (L.R. [1916] P. 100), to Lord Stowell in The Sansom (1807) (6 C. Rob, at p. 413) and to cases decided by English courts both before and after the Peace of The Borgila was......