Is The Salvage Industry Due to Disappear as We Know It?

Group image of virtual round table – From top left to bottom right // Imagen grupal de la mesa redonda virtual: de arriba a la izquierda a abajo a la derecha: Joseph E. Farrell, John Owen, Dimitris Theodorou, Simon Burnay, and Eric Dawicki.

AUTHOR

Joseph E. Farrell, III

Deputy, CEO of Resolve Marine

In May, I hosted a panel to discuss Chinese salvors’ entrance onto the international wreck removal market. Fellow panelists included Simon Burnay (Waves Group), John Owen (Bernicia Marine Consultants), Eric Dawicki (Northeast Maritime Institute), and Dimitris Theodorou (director of emergency response, Resolve Marine). All in, the cohort included a captain, two naval architects, a policy maker, and a salvage master, each bringing a range of perspectives and professional experience from classification societies, the insurance industry, maritime consultancy, marine salvage, the U.S. government, and academic institutions. It was a thoughtful discussion around competition in salvage, incentives in selecting a salvor, and whether an unfair competitive advantage exists for the Chinese in this industry.