The latest figures from the International Salvage Union (ISU) suggest its members saw an increase in work last year compared to the previous year.
ISU members, made up of the leading salvage companies, carried out 252 services last year compared with 213 in the previous year.
The work in 2017 broke down into 25 wreck removal jobs, 49 Lloyd's Open Form contracts and 42 standard towage contracts. However, the largest part of ISU members work by far — 78 cases in all — was carried out on a day-rate basis, with other contract forms making up the rest of the jobs.
The ISU also assesses its work volume based on how many potential pollutants its members managed to save through their salvage operations.
In 2016, ISU members were involved in casualties involving 2.6 million tonnes of pollutants. In 2017, that figure increased to 3.4 million tonnes.
“The ISU does not suggest that all of these potential pollutants were at imminent risk of going into the sea,” ISU president Charo Coll said.
“Some cases will have been benign but others will have carried a real environmental threat. It only takes one major incident to cause an environmental disaster, so it is worth considering what might have occurred in some of these cases if there had not been a professional salvor available and willing to intervene. Our members have undoubtedly helped to prevent the environmental and financial consequences of a significant pollution event.”
Between 1994 and the end of last year, the ISU said its members had been involved in salvage cases involving a total of 28.2 million tonnes of potential pollutants.
